Practical Life Exercise

1973 Words8 Pages
Most children are fulfilled and happy because they are educated through Montessori Method. This is because the child gets pleasure through work and the practical life exercise, provides the child with a meaningful tasks. Children are naturally interested in activities they have witnessed. Therefore, Dr. Montessori began to using what she called “Practical Life Exercise” to allow the child to do activities of daily life and adapt himself in his society. The purpose and aim of practical life is to help the child gain control in the coordination of his movement, and help the child to gain independence and adapt to his society. It is therefore important to “Teach teaching, not correcting” (Montessori) in order to allow the child to be a fully functionional member in his own society. Practical Life Exercise also aid the growth and development of the child’s intellect and concentration and will in turn also to help the child develop an orderly way of thinking. The activities help the child to master the skills that he need in order to become independent. Dr. Montessori saw that very young children were frequently frustrated in their attempts to do things for themselves. They need to have specific exercises, as closely linked to real life. This allowed them to master the tasks that they saw going on around them in everyday life. “ .. point of fact, no other occupations which could be undertaken by the children at this stage could be more important for their whole development – physical, mental, and moral – than these “exercises of practical life” as they are called. (Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work, Chapter 13, page.213). 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 be also be related to the child’s time and culture. In order to allow
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