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Practically Speaking: Why Practical Life Matters

“The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.” ~ Maria Montessori

Often at the beginning of a new school year, children in Montessori classrooms tend to choose much of their work in the Practical Life area over the other areas of the classroom. For one thing, they are drawn to the pretty materials, which are usually very colorful and inviting in so many ways. Transferring brightly colored rice from one container to another with a shiny silver spoon or pouring blue-dyed water from one large pitcher into three small cups is very appealing.

Children are also most comfortable with Practical Life work because it involves activities that they see being done every day at home. Things that are ‘real’ appeal to children who want to do ‘grown up’ types of work and make a meaningful contribution to their homes and classrooms. Practical Life is the area of the classroom in which children also receive the most lessons from the teacher at the start of the year, and for a very good reason.

On the surface, Practical Life activities provide the children with just that—practical, everyday skills that they need to survive. Learning how to button and zip, how to set the table and wash dishes, or how to do simple food preparation, is necessary. But even beyond these essential lessons, Practical Life, if you look at it closely, promotes additional skills that lead children to succeed in each and every other area of the classroom. How? Let’s look at just some of the skills that Practical Life teaches:

Planning and Order: The children learn, step by step, how first to take the work from the shelf to their work space and then set it up. Sometimes the work requires items from other areas of the classroom, such as an apron, a mat, a bucket, or other tools. The children learn where things are kept in the classroom and quickly realize the importance of putting things back in their proper places when they are finished using them. This ensures that everything is ready for the next person who wants to choose that work.
Self-Control: At first, children using the Practical Life materials may be tempted to rush through the activities. However, in the careful presentation of the work by the teacher, the children discover the beauty and joy of the work done with control. Instead of hastily scooping up beans with a spoon in a rushed, careless manner, the children learn to observe the beauty of the shape and color of the beans that they collect on the spoon and the lilting sound that they make as they are carefully spooned into the bowl. Their senses are attuned to each part of the lesson, and they begin to gain an appreciation for a work performed well and with control from start to finish.
Coordination: Grace in movement is important when using the Practical Life materials. Trying hard to not spill out any drops of water from a pitcher or bowl, the child learns to move with control and purpose. The children must negotiate how they travel from the shelves to the work space, making sure that all of the materials stay on the tray that they are carrying. Once at the workspace, the children develop a variety of hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. These grow as the children continue using Practical Life works specifically designed to support this growth. While teachers may adapt the appearance of the lessons (perhaps changing the color of the water or the types of materials being used), the essence of the lessons remains constant to help children continue to develop their coordination with each activity.
Patience: There is only one of each activity on the classroom shelves. Popular activities fly off the shelves quickly, and classmates learn that they must wait for their turn if something is already being used. There is no grabbing a work out of someone else’s hands. Instead, a child might be invited to watch while waiting. Similarly, a child must practice patience in order to complete the work. Many involve several steps, and each step, from set up to clean up, is equally important and necessary. If a step is skipped, there is a natural consequence that affects whether or not the work can be completed correctly. Children respond to these natural results and will strive to do the work to the best of their ability with the goal of getting it done ‘just right’ with practice and patience.
Persistence: The Practical Life work is attractive for a reason. It entices children to return to it again and again to practice important skills and achieve their goal of doing it correctly. Because the Practical Life area ultimately helps the children develop skills they need in every area of the classroom, persistence and repetition are especially important. Pouring wet or dry ingredients helps develop hand-eye coordination and estimation; using tweezers or tongs to transfer items strengthens the pincer grip needed for holding a pencil and other tools. These will become important across academic areas.
Mastery: The repetition of movements helps the children to eventually gain mastery over specific skills. This is the aim of the Practical Life works, as it is with everything found on the shelves in a Montessori classroom. The self-correcting materials let the child know whether or not the work was done well and with accuracy. If the water spills when being poured, the children know they need to pour it more slowly or that they need to pour less in each cup so that the cups don’t overflow. There is little to no teacher intervention required—the child can see for himself or herself if the work was done right. Imagine the joy when a child who has struggled with one skill or another finally sees that success has been achieved! It is that intrinsic feeling of pride that most strongly motivates children to continue to try, to continue to learn, in order to attain that wonderful feeling again and again!

Children’s time in the Practical Life area supports their success all throughout the Montessori classroom and extends into skills that help them all throughout their lives. Planning, concentration, persistence, patience, and self-control all contribute to the children’s effectiveness in learning every academic subject and in their success in managing social interactions as well. While Practical Life may seem simple, it is an area of significant importance for life skills. It is the foundation for all of the learning areas within the classroom and extends beyond it into all areas of life. As one parent commented to her son’s Montessori teacher, “I love that my child is learning to sew buttons in preschool. Not only will he be able to fix his own clothes when the time comes, but he may also make a fine surgeon one day!” Practically speaking, Practical Life really does matter!

Maintaining a Montessori Mindset Through the Summer

By: Alex Chiu

Summer is the time of year when schedules are a bit more relaxed, bedtimes push back a little later, and vacations and staycations abound. Some parents worry about what to do with their children during the summer and about ‘summer learning loss’ (where students, not immersed in daily learning at school, lose a portion of what they gained during the school year). However, this doesn’t need to happen at all. Instead of summer being a vacation from learning, it can instead be an opportunity for your children to find new ways of channeling their curiosity and practicing and refining the skills that they have obtained throughout the school year.

To help maintain a ‘Montessori mindset” throughout the summer, there are a few things that parents can do. A good place to start is by following the example of Montessori teachers who take great care in preparing their classroom environments, upholding expectations for everyone in the classroom community, and following the children’s lead as their interests and needs come into focus. With a little planning before summer vacation begins, you can create a bridge between your child’s school-year Montessori learning environment and your own home during the summer months.

First, prepare your environment.

Keep an assortment of activities available for your child to use during the ‘down times’ of the day when chores are finished and outings are not planned. Items should be placed where the children can reach them, and a child-sized work area should be established. This allows your child to make decisions about what to do with his or her free time and to be able to do things independently, without mom or dad having to participate at all times. To help you begin, think about the places where you and your child spend the most time during the summer days.

In the Kitchen

You might consider designating a shelf in your kitchen to hold activities such as:

An art box with child-safe scissors, scrap paper, colored pencils, leaves, ribbons, buttons, glue sticks, and a tablemat encourages children to create imaginative collages.
Small pitchers and a collection of cups provide opportunities for practice with pouring dry ingredients (like beans and rice) or liquids.
A large, deep tray or dish filled with sand or salt along with seashells, a small rake, and pretty stones invites your child to design ever-changing paths in his or her own miniature Zen garden.

In the Family Room

A basket of books in a cozy corner with pillows and good lighting invites children to spend some time each day in the company of good books.
Recycled items in a basket become building materials where children construct rockets, sculptures, or skyscrapers. Save tissue boxes, oatmeal containers, paper towel tubes, empty water bottles and other ‘trash’ items for inventive uses
A collection of objects (marbles, coins, cotton balls) and number cards offer practice in matching quantities to the numbers.

Also, rotating puzzles, matching cards, counting activities, and favorite toys every few weeks keeps things interesting and fresh through the summer months, as children choose which activities they would like to do.

In the Backyard

Don’t forget to prepare things in a space outside, too!

A bucket with fresh water alongside sponges and paintbrushes might inspire your child to wash the deck or outdoor furniture.
A tray with bubble-making supplies and unusual bubble blowers such as funnels, rope tied into a circle, and a slotted spoon put a new twist on an old favorite activity.
A container garden with a watering can and weeding gloves helps your child take responsibility for the care of plants. Consider a variety of herbs that smell good and that may be used in cooking!
A butterfly net and bug viewer might be kept together for children to investigate how animals behave in your backyard.

It may take a little time and creativity to collect household items to use for the activities, but this preparation of your home environment is worth the effort. And it needn’t be expensive. You can easily use items you already have available around the house. After you have your prepared environment set up, show your children what activities are available, where they may do their work, and what to do when they are finished using the materials, just like their teachers do at school. Then, let them enjoy the freedom to choose their work and play!

Second, uphold your expectations that your children are contributing members of daily family life.

In a Montessori classroom, children learn to respect themselves, others, and the environment. They know that everyone has responsibilities and that the classroom community relies on everyone contributing and doing his or her job. Parents are fully aware that just because it is summertime doesn’t mean that families are on a vacation from the usual day to day responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. So, while your children are at home this summer, be sure to include them in these necessary daily chores. They will be happy to show off the Practical Life skills that they have been developing all school year! Have your children help with age-appropriate tasks such as:

Setting the table
Sorting laundry
Sweeping the front walkway
Assisting with mealtime food preparation
Scrubbing the back deck with sponges and soapy water

Not only does upholding your expectations allow them to practice their skills, but it also confirms that your children (and the work that they do) are important. That is a very motivating feeling! Patience on the part of the parent is essential for helping your child to grow in his or her mastery of these skills, but summer is a season to give your children time to complete their work to the best of their ability, resulting in a great sense of accomplishment (and in all likelihood, a much more willing little household helper!).

Finally, challenge yourself to “follow the child”:

In Montessori classrooms, teachers learn to ‘follow the child’, and summer is an opportune time for parents to try to do the same.

But first, what does it mean to “follow the child”? At its essence, it means to observe your child and to open the doors that your child is knocking on with his or her questions, interests, and behaviors. As your child chooses activities around the house, you might pay attention to which ones he or she chooses over and over again and which ones are left to collect dust. The toys and games being used most often are certainly drawing your child’s attention, and you can try to uncover just what it is about these things that intrigue your child. Maybe he or she is drawn to everything decorated with bugs and dinosaurs. Well, there’s the door waiting to be opened—summer can be the time to collect books on those subjects or to visit local museums where together you can learn more about them. Or maybe you observe that the most repeated activities are those where your child feels most challenged or most relaxed, and that is what keeps him or her coming back again and again. Stand back as your child works and plays. What do you notice?

Equally important are those children’s items around the house that are collecting dust. Is your child-size easel always clean and bare? Maybe your child doesn’t know what to do with it. Perhaps a fresh supply of watercolors or different sizes of paper or brushes might inspire a new or renewed interest in art. Or a visit to a local gallery might open up a new door to artistic expression for your child. By quietly observing your child, you can get some great insights into his or her interests and as well as his or her needs.

Following the child doesn’t mean that you can’t also offer suggestions for activities you might do together this summer. And if you have a special interest, share it with your children. Astronomy? Gaze at the summer nighttime sky and try to identify different constellations. Read the myths behind their names, and visit a planetarium to learn even more. These experiences nurture your children’s natural curiosity and provide them with ways to extend their learning beyond books and into the ‘real world’.

Other ideas for following your child’s interests and expanding your child’s summer experiences include:

Exploring the outdoors–look for animal tracks, build fairy houses, and learn what types of trees and plants are growing in your backyard.
Going on local ‘field trips’ in your neighboring towns. This area is rich in culture, art, nature, and so much more!
Using public transportation (trains and buses) and having your child try to map your routes or log how many miles you travel.
Inviting your children to brainstorm what charitable acts they could do this summer—a used toy or book sale on your front lawn or a lemonade stand with the proceeds going to a local charity?

Together you can choose do-able options from this list. Then let your child outline a plan and put it into action. But remember to stand back and observe all of your children’s efforts—you will be amazed by what they think and at what they can do when you trust yourself to follow their lead!

With a little preparation, patience, and a “Montessori mindset”, you can provide your child with fulfilling activities that reinforce the skills he or she has gained during the school year. You will find yourselves sailing smoothly through the summer months and right back into the new school year when it begins again before you know it in September!

Pennies for Peace 2015-2016

By: Camilla Nichols-Uhler, Hannah Ferris, and Alex Chiu

Since September, MCA students have been raising funds for Pennies for Peace, a “service learning program that brings cultural and philanthropic education to students and educators all over the world”. Each campus recently totaled its pennies, with the help of our math-savvy students, and now plans to send the contributions on to assist children at schools throughout Asia. Read on to learn how many pennies our MCA students counted, resulting in a significant contribution to this very worthy cause!

Program Overview

Pennies for Peace is part of the educational component of the Central Asia Institute (CAI). CAI is an international development organization that works with communities to improve access to education in Asia. The CAI believes that education can alleviate poverty and reduce conflict.

Pennies for Peace is a fundraising program designed specifically for children, and its philosophy of “students helping students” is relatable even to preschoolers. MCA students, whose capacities for compassion find their foundation in the Montessori Philosophy, have taken ownership of this yearlong project. The children collected pennies from home and then brainstormed additional ways to engage the community to help them with their fundraising efforts.

Through their classroom Cultural studies, the children have learned a great deal about the state of education in certain areas of Asia. And perhaps of more significance, they have also come to understand the importance of sharing some of what they have with others who are less fortunate. When the MCA students discovered that just a few pennies could buy school supplies like notebooks and pencils for children in these far-away communities, they realized that many pennies could do even more. They wondered if they could work toward collecting enough pennies to build an entire school.

Connecting Curriculum with a Cause

The Pennies for Peace program ties in nicely with the Montessori Culture and Science curriculum. Over the course of the year, MCA students have learned a lot about life in the more educationally deprived areas of Asia. For example:

In many communities, the need for children to work on family farms often prevents them from going to school;
Often the physical terrain is very difficult to travel, and many children cannot get to schools in larger villages because roads through the Himalaya Mountain Range are dangerous;
Cultures place an emphasis on boys’ education at the expense of girls’ education. In some areas, only 12% of girls can read.
The culture in countries is very different from that in the United States: many families move from place to place based on the seasons to farm, they celebrate different holidays, and they eat different types of food.

In addition, participation in Pennies for Peace relates to the Montessori Peace curriculum, which aims to teach children how people working together peacefully can make the world a better place for everyone. The Pennies for Peace program also taught the MCA students about organizing their efforts for a good cause. They learned the process of brainstorming ideas, developing a plan for collections, and then putting that plan into action. All of these efforts resulted in building their understanding that working together towards a common goal is hard work, but that it reaps wonderful results and is well worth it!

MCA Students and Families Take Initiative

At first, the children came to school with handfuls pennies that they found around their homes. The sound of the pennies clinking as they were dropped into the collection jars was music to the children’s ears. As the number of pennies in the jar grew, so did the enthusiasm and creativity of our students, leading some of our students and families to go beyond dropping their pocket change in the classroom penny jars. We are extremely grateful to everyone for supporting this schoolwide project, and we wanted to recognize a few for their extra special effort:

One of our students took advantage of the warm autumn weather and sold lemonade to his neighbors. He accepted payment only in pennies and explained to his customers that the lemonade proceeds would benefit MCA’s Pennies for Peace He collected thousands of pennies in one afternoon!

Back in December, on an unseasonably sunny and warm Saturday, one family spearheaded a community fundraiser with the help of our friends at Café Beethoven in Chatham. Their children and friends from MCA created posters illustrating facts about the project and shared their knowledge about the countries they studied through the program with passersby. Many kindly donated their coffee change after learning about the project. This group of friends raised a total of $270 at the Saturday morning Café Beethoven fundraiser.

Recently, our MCA Elementary students sent a letter to the Short Hills Director, Mrs. Amy Hidalgo, and our Elementary Director/Senior Director, Mrs. Jeanine Christiana, pitching an idea for yet another Pennies for Peace In this letter, they asked permission to host a car wash before the end of the school year. They explained in the letter:

Bragging Rights

The students at MCA are growing in their sense of responsibility as citizens of a global community through their involvement with the Pennies for Peace project. As part of the Pennies for Peace philosophy, MCA students have helped spread the word about the project to other Montessori schools in the Tri-State Area, including sharing information about their participation with their pen pals at Brooklyn Heights Montessori School. Our students recently found out that their friends at Brooklyn Heights are also in the process of totaling their pennies. They realize that together they are making a difference!

Across our three campuses in Morristown, Chatham, and Short Hills, the MCA community has raised a grand total of $1,081.43 so far this year for Pennies for Peace. That’s a lot of pennies… 108,143 to be exact! Our Elementary students are currently working on a Math project to determine exactly how many school supplies this $1,081.43 can purchase for their friends on the other side of the globe. Perhaps they will not build an entire school, but they are well on their way to building enormous positive changes in the lives of children in Asia who will benefit from their hard work this year.

We are incredibly proud of our students for sharing information about Pennies for Peace with their families, their Montessori counterparts at other schools, and their communities. And we want to sincerely thank all of the parents, staff members, and community members from Chatham, Morristown, and Short Hills who contributed their pennies and their time to our various projects this year.

For more information about the Pennies for Peace program, please visit their website http://www.penniesforpeace.org.

References for this post:

“Pennies for Peace – a Free Service Learning Program.” Pennies for Peace. Central Asia Institute, Oct. 2015. Web. 10 May 2016.