Practical Life in Elementary

Some parents have asked me in the past if any form of practical life exercises exist in Montessori elementary.  They don't see the prepared and color-coordinated exercises they so admired in the primary classroom.  I tell them that practical life is not gone, just transformed.

     For a child who has been in the primary environment for three years, care of that environment comes naturally.  Especially for the older primary child - if he or she sees something that needs to be taken care of, it gets taken care of.  The same thing happens in elementary.  I try very hard not to do something for a child that he or she can do alone.  The trick is to live with the results.  It may not be done just the way I would do it, but it is done independently by the child.  In the classroom, children love to clean because it is a group activity with instant gratification (they love watching the dirt and dust pile up on a Swiffer).

      The children also take all the skills and accuracy they have gained and use them in the area of science.  What is an experiment but a series of planned movements with a goal in mind?  First, the child sets up the experiment in a logical matter.  They use step sequencing to make the process follow the plan.  They know that to test a theory, they need to alter only one element at a time to see if that is one that makes a different outcome.  Then comes the conclusion of clean up - leaving the materials as they found them, beautiful for the next child.

      Also, we do a lot of cooking in the elementary.  This year so far we have been learning how to use simple kitchen tools.  We have explored the pastry cutter, the potato masher, the citrus juicer, and this week we will learn the skills of separating an egg and folding in whipped egg whites.  So again, we have set up, sequencing, clean up.  And then we get to eat what we make.  Life is good!

-Mrs. Stone, Millipede Teacher