Montessori Practical Life. The things that come to mind can vary greatly from person to person. In the beginning of my Montessori journey, fancy trays with delicate porcelain bowls filled with dried beans might pop into my head. As I learned more about the philosophy and how it translates to home, I realized that tray work doesn’t necessarily play a big part in Montessori at Home learning.

Students washing snack dishes to return to the shelf.

That realization led me to think more about how the Practical Life area in the classroom looks. Sure, I had shelves upon shelves of Control of Movement, Care of Self and Care of the Environment activities, but what is next? How do I transform that dry pouring from pitcher to pitcher activity into something PURPOSEFUL? How do I translate a little embroidery hoop where we sew one button onto a piece of fabric into something actually useful? How do we take that fancy little tray where we sift gems out of a bowl of sand applicable to real life?

I also saw all of these “natural” materials that made the work look so enticing (to my adult eyes). Dried rice, beans and corn. So natural, pretty and attractive. I also came to believe that food is to eat. Using food to practice pouring and scooping is wasteful, and isn’t conveying the lesson of appreciating what we are privileged to have. Thinking up alternative materials and saving food for eating is extremely important in the classroom.

I admittedly thought that is what Montessori was all about before I started my training. Petite, pretty, isolated skills placed nicely on a tray, placed neatly on a shelf. Once I realized (and that comes quickly after the second week of school when that dry pouring activity is mixed with a wet transfer activity and everyone is bored of spooning jewels from one bowl to another!) that the Practical Life curriculum is SO much more than that, things changed for me.

In the classroom, the first few months of the school year should most certainly be devoted to implementing Grace & Courtesy through walking slowly, tucking in chairs, carrying trays properly and returning them right to where they were found. Lessons should be given on how to use your whole hand to transfer materials, then how to use many different kinds of tools. Calm, quiet and controlled lessons should be given over and over again on how to support a water pitcher while pouring from one thing to another, repetition, repetition, repetition. But then what?

That transferring activity with a large spoon? That turns into community snack when a child scoops their own snack from a larger bowl into their own personal bowl.

That back and forth pouring activity? That translates into pouring water into a drinking glass to quench thirst.

That single button on a piece of cloth? That turns into a mending pile where children can replace missing shirt buttons.

Walking on a line with a wooden egg in a spoon and seeing if you can not drop it? That turns into “carry an uncooked egg from home to school so that we can boil it, peel it and slice it for snack.”

Purposeful.

Sand sifting? That’s flour sifting.

Scooping and leveling? That’s measuring with a measuring cup.

Spooning? That’s using measuring spoons.

That play dough tray? That is the very first step in learning to knead bread.

Lighting a candle to help gather children and promote peace during circle? That is teaching children how to be careful around a hot oven for baking.

Beginning of the year pouring shelf work.

While at school there aren’t necessarily things like loading the washer and dryer, the dishwasher (maybe there are these jobs in some places) - but there are SO many ways to break away from scooping, spooning and pouring work that is isolated to a tray on the shelf. Maria Montessori called her school a Children’s House - and that is what I always keep in mind when expanding on my Practical Life area as the year ticks by.

A huge reason I try to have a Spring Tea every year is to implement all those isolated skills and use them to serve the greater community. You can read more about The Spring Tea here.

How do I make the classroom a place that mimics the home - how can the children be active members of our community?

What are ways you can make Practical Life more purposeful in the classroom?

Making Practical Life Purposeful