Practical Life Montessori Lesson: Carrying a Mat

 

Material: a mat

Presentation

Introduction
Prepare all materials before. (Place rolled mat on the ground.)
Invite 3-4 children to come participate in your lesson by telling them you have something to show them. Show each child where exactly to sit and once the children are seated, you sit so that you can see them all, they all can see you, and yet you are not in front of them. Call their attention to the mat on the floor and tell them that you are going to show them how to roll and unroll a mat. Position yourself so that you are sitting on your knees in front of the vertical rolled up mat with the flap of the mat is on the left side of the rolled up mat.

Tell the children " I am now going to pick up this mat."

Lifting

1. Place your right thumb on the front of the rolled mat about 1/3 of the way down from the top (or lower if you are smaller).
2. Wrap you four right fingers around the mat so that they are under the mat.
3. Place your left thumb on the front of the rolled mat under your right thumb about 1/2 way from the top.
4. Wrap your four left fingers around the mat.
5. Lifting with the force of both hands, lift the mat from the floor so that it in now perpendicular to the floor and stand up.
6. Bring the mat in close to your body, keeping it perpendicular to the floor.
7. Walk carefully and to a specific spot (not too far so the children can no longer see you), checking regularly to make sure your walkway is clear. 

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Purpose

Direct: To assist the child in coping with the movements necessary for carrying a mat.
Indirect: Development of voluntary movements.

Points of Interests
Holding the flap of the mat so that it does not unroll as it is being carried.

Age
2 1/2 onwards

 

Montessori Language Curriculum: How to Tell Stories to your Child

 

Lesson Name: Telling Stories

Materials: None

Instructions:

• This activity begins in earlier classroom experiences.  This is such a beautiful practice that reaps so much benefit and connectedness that it should be a part of child's experience inside and outside the classroom.
• This activity can be done with one child or with a small group of children, or even the whole class. If you give are telling a story to more than one child, have the children sit in a semi-circle around you. This allows the children to see your gestures and facial movements, which then help each child to understand the meaning of the story.
• The stories should be about reality, whether true or fictional.
• Telling stories can be done adult to child or with two children as partners.
• This is also a good activity to do with children who seem to be wondering aimlessly around the classroom.

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Why handwriting is best learned In a Primary Classroom

 

The sensitive period of 3-6 years is a beneficial time for a child to be introduced to writing.  The order found in writing - piggy backing on the Montessori philosophy of bringing order to chaos - will be an irresistible draw for the child.  We introduce the creation of letters, the sounds of the letters and then the structuring of sound with the hand in writing.

The child works with sandpapers and simultaneously works with the sound games.  These experiences will spark in the child the natural next step which it to put these practices to paper.

"With the Moveable Alphabet, the child was able to put a thought into symbols first by “writing” a single word, then a phrase, then a complete sentence and finally a story. The last direct preparation the child will have before he begins to write will be his work with the metal insets. This will help the child to learn how to correctly hold a pencil, it will make the child practice different strokes, help the child learn about pencil pressure and will make the hand ready for handwriting."

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Reasons for Practical Life Exercises and Why they can be effective in your Home

 

Practical Life Exercises can be categorized into four different groups:

 -Preliminary Applications: the child learns the basic movements of all societies such as pouring, folding, and carrying.

-Applied Applications: the child learns about the care and maintenance that helps every day life. These activities are, for example, the care of the person (i.e the washing of the hand) and the care of the environment (i.e dusting a table or outdoor sweeping).

-Grace and Courtesy: the children work on the interactions of people to people.

-Control of Moment: the child learns about his own movements and learns how to refine his coordination through such activities as walking on the line.

Reason for Practical Life Exercises

Children are naturally interested in activities they have witnessed. Therefore, Dr. Montessori began using what she called “Practical Life Exercises” to allow the child to do activities of daily life and therefore adapt and orientate himself in his society.

It is therefore the Directress’s task to demonstrate the correct way of doing these Exercises in a way that allows the child to fully observe the movements. Montessori says, “If talking don’t move, if moving don’t talk”.

The directress must also keep in mind that the goal is to show the actions so that the child can go off and repeat the activity in his own successful way. Montessori says, “Our task is to show how the action is done and at the same time destroy the possibility of imitation”. The child must develop his own way of doing these activities so that the movements become real and not synthetic.

During the child’s sensitive period between birth and 6, the child is constructing the inner building blocks of his person. It is therefore important for the child to participate in activities to prepare him for his environment, that allow him to grow independently and use his motor skills, as well as allow the child to analyze difficulties he may have in the exercise and problem solve successfully.

Montessori also saw the child’s need for order, repetition, and succession in movements. Practical Life Exercises also helps to aid the child to develop his coordination in movement, his balance and his gracefulness in his environment as well as his need to develop the power of being silent.

 

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A Discussion about Some of the Benefits of a Montessori Preschool

 

1. The Curriculum is Intentionally Aligned with Developmental Stage

A Montessori curriculum focuses on key developmental milestones in children between the ages of three and five-years-old. Younger children focus on honing large muscle and language skills. Four-year-olds work on fine motor skills and completing everyday activities, such as cooking and arts and crafts. Older preschoolers broaden their learning experience to their communities, through trips and special events.

2. All Have the Opportunity to Lead

Because the teacher does not “run” the classroom, students guide the activities they do throughout the day. This encourages children to share and work cooperatively to explore the various stations in the Montessori classroom.  Children in Montessori classrooms, by the very nature of the environment, learn to respect one another and build a sense of community.

3.Follow The Child

Montessori preschool students enjoy a classroom and curriculum designed around their specific needs and abilities that allows them to explore and learn at their own pace and on their own terms.  Everything in the classroom is within reach of the child, and furniture is sized for children to sit comfortably. In addition, older children in the class work with the younger ones, so mentoring comes as much from peers as it does from the adult teachers in the classroom.

4. The Self Direction Controversy

While the Montessori Method allows children to choose the activities they want to work on each day, and how long they will work at a specific task, there are specific “ground rules” for the class that are consistently enforced by the teacher and other students. This environment naturally teaches children self-discipline, and it refines important skills like concentration, self-control and motivation.

 

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Montessori Philosophy Discussions: Characteristics of Practical Life (What this look like in terms that you can relate to)

 

 

"Because Practical Life Exercises are meant to resemble everyday activities, it is important that all materials be familiar, real, breakable, and functional. The materials must also be related to the child’s time and culture. In order to allow the child to fully finish the exercise and to therefore finish the full cycle of the activity, the material must be complete.

In the environment, the Directress may want to color code the materials as well as arrange the materials based on difficulties in order to facilitate the classification and arrangements of the work by the children.

The attractiveness is also of utmost importance as Montessori believed that the child must be offered what is most beautiful and pleasing to the eye so as to help the child enter into a “more refined and subtle world."

Source: CLICK HERE

 

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Montessori as an answer for those looking for change in education

 

"Over a century ago, Dr. Maria Montessori discovered through scientific observations of children that they are not empty vessels to be filled -- they are intrinsically motivated doers. She saw that providing a hands-on learning environment that valued choice, concentration, collaboration, community, curiosity, and real-world application produced lifelong learners who viewed "work" as something interesting
and fulfilling instead of drudgery to be avoided."

-Laura Flores Shaw 

 

I am happy to pass along this article offering a practical discussion on why Montessori brings more answers to the problems facing the American education system.

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Why Do kids love Sensorial Lessons in a Montessori Setting?

 

What is Sensorial Work

Sensorial comes from the words sense or senses. As there are no new experiences for the child to take from the Sensorial work, the child is able to concentrate on the refinement of all his senses, from visual to stereognostic. 

The Purpose of Sensorial Work

The purpose and aim of Sensorial work is for the child to acquire clear, conscious, information and to be able to then make classifications in his environment. Montessori believed that sensorial experiences began at birth. Through his senses, the child studies his environment. Through this study, the child then begins to understand his environment. The child, to Montessori, is a “sensorial explorer”.

Through work with the sensorial materials, the child is given the keys to classifying the things around him, which leads to the child making his own experiences in his environment. Through the classification, the child is also offered the first steps in organizing his intelligence, which then leads to his adapting to his environment. 

Source: CLICK HERE

 

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