Fundamental Life Skills in the Children’s House
Learning fundamental life skills, or practical life, is the component of the Montessori Early Years Learning Programme that links the home environment and the Children’s House.
Children love order, and they love to be independent, and this desire finds expression in the exercises of practical life. During these exercises, children use a variety of materials and activities to support increased control and refinement of:
whole body equilibrium and coordination
fine motor skills
voluntary control of attention and the ability to concentrate
the ability to sequence the steps of a task in order to achieve a goal
everyday living skills.
To achieve the goal of a practical life exercise, children must use precise movements. As they strive for precision of movement, children develop their will, that is, they develop self-control, the ability to self-regulate, voluntary control over movement, as well as voluntary control over attention, the foundation of the ability to concentrate. If they are free to work at their own pace uninterrupted, children gradually extend the period of time they are able to concentrate. When they have completed a cycle of work, without being disturbed, children typically experience feelings of great satisfaction and increased confidence in their own abilities.
Practical life for children aged between three and six years in the Children’s House encompasses four main areas:
control of movement
care of person
care of environment
grace and courtesy/social relations.
In the Children’s House the skills needed to succeed at the exercises in these areas are developed initially in a series of ‘transitional’ exercises in which children practise ‘preliminary movements’. These exercises build on the skills learnt by children in the Infant Community.
Jump to section:
1.PL.010 Transition or preliminary movements
1.PL.020 Preliminary activities
1.PL.030 Care of person
1.PL.040 Care of environment: indoor and outdoor
1.PL.050 Movement: analysis and control
1.PL.060 Social relations
Transition or preliminary movements 1.PL.010
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically children will:
01. Repeat precise hand movements leading to concentration and self-mastery
02. Develop control and coordination of whole-body movement
03. Develop hand-eye coordination
04. Make responsible and appropriate choices
05. Wait, share, take turns
06. Prepare for later work in the environment
07. Develop confidence in own ability in both whole body and fine motor movement
08. Develop orientation to the physical space and accepted expectations
09. Widen social contacts and interact in a group
10. Verbally or non-verbally express their needs
＋ Materials and Activity
Activities include:
- activities familiar from home that demand hand-eye coordination
- water play
- art activities such as glue, cutting and painting
- language and music activities such as singing and storytelling.
Resources include:
- simple puzzles
- sandpit play
- building blocks and other construction materials
- activities with clay and/or ‘play dough’
- modelling provided by adults and other children
- Children interact with adults and other children in the environment.
Preliminary activities 1.PL.020
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically children will:
01. Develop more precise control and coordination of movement
02. Repeat precise whole body and hand movements leading to concentration and self-mastery
03. Prepare for later work in the classroom
04. Develop confidence in own ability to complete simple everyday tasks
＋ Materials and Activity
Activities include:
- spooning and pouring
- carrying chairs, trays, mats, buckets, jugs
- folding cloths
- opening and closing different types of containers
- threading.
Resources include:
- prepared sets of functional objects and implements
- furniture matched to children’s size, strength and dexterity.
Care of person 1.PL.030
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically children will:
01. Prepare food for eating
＋ Materials and Activity
Activities include:
- hand washing
- preparing and serving food
- eating meals with others.
Resources include:
- prepared sets of functional objects and implements
- furniture matched to children’s size, strength and dexterity.
Typically children will:
02. Perform personal care
＋ Materials and Activity
Activities include:
- blowing nose
- washing face
- brushing and combing hair
- toileting
- washing hands.
Resources include:
- prepared sets of functional objects and implements
- furniture matched to children’s size, strength and dexterity.
Typically children will:
03. Undertake dressing and undressing
＋ Materials and Activity
Activities include:
- grooming
- caring for clothes
- sewing
- dressing and undressing
- cleaning and polishing shoes.
Resources include:
- frames to practise a variety of fastenings
- prepared sets of functional objects and implements
- furniture matched to children’s size, strength and dexterity.
Care of environment: indoor and outdoor 1.PL.040
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically children will:
01. Experience caring for plants and animals
02. Observe nature and gain an appreciation for the natural world
＋ Materials and Activity
Activities include:
- arranging flowers
- wiping leaves
- watering plants
- gardening
- caring for animals
- range of experiences enabling children to connect with the natural environment.
Resources include:
- prepared sets of functional objects and implements
- furniture matched to children’s size, strength and dexterity.
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically children will:
03. Develop responsibility for self and others
04. Connect with reality
05. Develop a sense of giving back to the community, leading to feelings of self-confidence and empathy
＋ Materials and Activity
Activities include:
- dusting and polishing
- sweeping and mopping
- beating rugs
- washing and drying dishes, washing cloths
- ironing
- washing windows
- washing and scrubbing, for example, tables, chairs, floor.
Resources include:
- prepared sets of functional objects and implements
- furniture matched to children’s size, strength and dexterity.
Movement: analysis and control 1.PL.050
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically children will:
01. Develop control and coordination of movement
02. Develop equilibrium
03. Develop self-control and the ability to self-regulate (in Montessori terms, develop the will)
04. Experience social cohesion
05. Experience reflection and silence
＋ Materials and Activity
Activities include:
- walking on the line
- balancing
- walking up and down steps
- silence game and exercises.
Resources include:
- a large elliptical line drawn on the floor for the initial walking on the line exercises
- designed-in elements of the environment to provide opportunities for practise.
Social relations 1.PL.060
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically children will:
01. Develop a language for effective and positive interaction with others
02. Experience interactions with others
03. Begin learning culturally appropriate customs and manners
04. Develop awareness of self and others
＋ Materials and Activity
Activities include:
- peer teaching and modelling
- celebrations
- how to lessons e.g., how to introduce, greet, interrupt, request, apologise.
Resources include:
- adults in the environment
- a multi-age group of children
- visitors from the community.
Typically children will:
05. Experience and understand sharing and turn-taking
＋ Materials and Activity
Activities and resources include:
- a limited quantity of each material
- a multi-age group
- modelling by adults and peers