ADDAN BIBI

DK2835

ANS 1

Importance of Practical Life Exercises

Practical Life activities have a unique purpose which, when carried out properly, are
very calming. To the adult eye, these activities may seem simple and repetitive, but a
child who is learning to wash a table or fold napkins is accomplishing more than meets
the eye.

Why do we do practical life activities?

Practical life lessons are exercises which help a child to learn meaningful activities in a
purposeful way. It helps him in his daily life because it is these actions which are
normally performed by everybody in their everyday lives. We all dress, feed and care for
ourselves as well as doing the mundane daily activities that are necessary for survival.

Five areas of Practical life

Preliminary exercises – pouring, spooning carrying objects etc

Care of one’s self - Hand washing, food preparation etc

Care of one’s environment - Polishing, sweeping cleaning etc

Grace and courtesy activities – Manners, discipline, etc

Silence and movement – Fine and gross motor skills

Dr Montessori said :
"The child can only develop by means of experience in his environment. We call
such experience work."

There is a great importance placed on practical life exercises in the classroom and it is
seen as the foundation of the child’s learning.

Here are some of the benefits –

Independence:
P/L activity helps a child to be independent and self-sufficient by allowing him to make
choices, discover consequences and to see himself as a contributing member of the
community. Independence becomes his personality trait and this will help him in his
future [Link] develops a love for learning:

PL activities help the child develop a love for work because by nature he enjoys doing
activities that involve daily routine. It gives the child a feeling of being important and of
being a valuable part of the family. He loves to comb his hair, brush his teeth, carry
trays, roll and unroll the mat, pick up leaves, clean the home and its surroundings etc.
All these activities, though tedious in the life of an adult, are of great importance to the
child. It is through these hands-on activities that the child constructs his physical, mental
and emotional self.

It provides self-satisfaction and develops self-respect:

Every child wants to do practical life exercises as he sees his family and community
doing these activities on a daily basis. If the child is allowed to do these activities he will
feel responsible and worthwhile, thus he will gain self-satisfaction and self-respect.
Allow the child time to repeat these activities and remember it’s the process not the
result that will bring the most enjoyment to the child.

It makes our environment a better organized and tidier place:

In a Montessori classroom, “there is a place for everything, and everything has

a place” we follow this principle because it supports the sensitive period for order, one of
the innate qualities (human tendencies) of mankind. External order supports the child’s
need for internal order and develops the mathematical mind.

It teaches the child to both give and receive gracefully:

Being respectful of others, oneself and the environment is vital for a functional and
peaceful classroom. Grace and Courtesy lessons are an integral part of our daily
practice and provide the key to developing good manners, discipline and respect.

Develops a love of learning and supports good habits in daily living

Physical labour helps the body grow, develops a strong neurological system and
increases brain density. This in turn increases intelligence and makes us smarter.

Develops physical strength and refines movement

There are lots of activities in practical life which helps the child build strength and
refines his movements for example, rolling up a mats, polishing shoes, washing the
table and floor, setting the table, putting chairs in order, carrying furniture etc, these
exercises are encouraged to help the child refine his body and muscle movements and
develop accurate hand eye coordination.

Normalization of the child:

0 -6 years are seen as the age of sensitiveness.

- Language development
- Sense of order – from eighteen months to four years
- Coordination of movement
- Sensory development
- Interest in small objects
- Basic concepts in mathematics and music

Every child has a strong urge to work to develop and refine these sensitivities.

If the child doesn’t fulfill this urge to work, the result is what Dr Montessori described as
deviation (the inability to focus and concentrate on productive activities). Practical life
exercises help children to fulfil their strong inner urges and the fulfilment of these urges
lead to normalization (a well-rounded and intelligent child).

It helps develop love for our environment both local and global:

Practical life exercises include personal care, care of the environment, care of living
things and grace and courtesy, all these are necessary for global consciousness. When
a child starts caring for all forms of life and becomes a peaceful and responsible
individual then our world will be in safe hands.
So if you are ever wondering why your child is learning how to wash dishes when they
could be learning how to do something more academic, like math? Math, reading, and
writing all require the child to have the ability to focus, to be able to complete a task with
logical and sequential steps, to concentrate, to make intelligent choices, and to see a
task from start to finish. This is precisely the intent of the Practical Life activities.
Through the Practical Life work, children learn to calmly go about their work and to take
pleasure and satisfaction from their efforts.

ANS 2

Exercises of practical life have been divided into four main groups.
Ø Elementary exercises
Ø Exercises of personal care
Ø Grace and courtesy exercises
Ø Care of environment exercises.

ELEMENTARY EXERCISES:

This group is further divided into three groups:

1. Basic elementary exercises
2. Elementary exercises
3. Higher elementary exercises

Basic elementary exercises:

In this group, very basic movement activities are involved. It involves holding and
placing objects. For example, carry and place jugs, how to hold glass, tray etc.

Benefits of this group:

These kinds of exercises are very helpful for a child. They help him to coordinate,
balance, and make him perfect in his movements. They learn the proper way of holding
and carrying different things. It also helps in exactness and precision.

Elementary exercises:

In this group, the movements which are involved are a bit more complex and advanced
than basic elementary exercises, but altogether they are also done within a short period
of time. i.e. rolling and unrolling of mats , folding and unfolding mats, opening and
closing bottle tops, pouring rice from one jug to another jug etc.

Benefits of this group:

Elementary exercises indirectly help Montessori students to learn geometry. They help
students to be independent. They also help students with writing and exercise of hands
and coordination of movements. These exercises help the child to concentrate keenly.

Higher elementary exercises:

In this group, those practical exercises are involved which are more logical and slightly
more complex and advanced then previous exercises. For example, cutting along a line,
spooning beans into a number of containers, use of droppers, etc.

Benefits of this group:

As others groups help the child in concentration and coordination of movements. This
group also helps him to work on those two categories but in a more advanced way.
This group prepares children for division indirectly and uses of scissors.

PERSONAL CARE:

This group is related to personal care of a child. In this group, he learns to take care of
himself under the guidance of the teacher. He gains confidence and groom himself in a
very good and well-mannered way. For example: combing hair, brushing teeth,
dressing frames and many more.

Benefits of this group:

The exercises of this group help children to take care of themselves. These exercises
introduce all stuff related to personal care for example, soap, comb, tissue paper, mirror,
dustbin, toothpaste and brush etc. The teacher does those activities which help
students with their daily routine’s personal care.

GRACE AND COURTESY:

In this group, the activities which are involved help a child to learn to be polite, use basic
manners and how to go around society. Example: table manners, how to carry a chair,
knocking at the door, how to be silent, use of thank you and sorry, please, etc.

Benefits of this group:

This group helps students to learn how to sit and stand properly, greet people, titles of
respect etc. these kinds of exercises help children to move in society in a
well-mannered way.

CARE OF ENVIRONMENT:

Environment is the main component of this group. It makes a child learn to take care of
his environment, how to keep it clean and how to restore and maintain proper living
conditions. This group involves both indoor and outdoor exercises. Indoor exercises
include polishing brass, washing dishes, dusting, and floral arrangement. Outdoor
exercises include, picking up dried leaves, watering plants, etc.

Benefits of this group:

This group builds self confidence in children and cares for the environment. When the
child learns these activities at a very young age, these become his habits to do them in
a proper way. For example, picking up dried leaves, watering plants, taking great care of
the garden, and cleaning the floor make him a well-mannered person who has love for
cleanliness and awareness of his surroundings.

To sum up, practical life exercises are very important for children and they help children
to be good people. They help children to build self confidence in them. As Montessori
said;
“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”

ANS 3

The presentation of the EPL is a very important and difficult task. A directress should be
very careful while presenting it. Children are very good observers and they love to
follow their teacher; therefore the directress should be perfect in presenting the activity.
There are two ways of presenting EPL

Ø Direct presentation
Ø Indirect presentation

Direct presentation:

It is defined as when a teacher introduces that we are going to do an activity. The

teacher should keenly observe the movement of the child. So, she should present an
activity in such a way her movement should be clear to the child.

Indirect presentation:

Indirect presentation is defined as when the child observes his teacher making a
presentation and paying attention to the lesson with the teacher being aware of it. It has
more importance than direct presentation.
Presenting EPL guidelines:

There are a lot of guidelines for presenting EPL, some are given below:

Ø The directress should wear an apron while presenting EPL and also ask students to
do that.

Ø When a child is admitted to a Montessori school, EPL should be taught in such a way
that the child could understand it and work properly in all areas. Therefore, the
directress must present the activity in the right way.

Ø The directress should show the child how to do an activity without making any
mistake so in order to do that she should not make any kind of mistake while presenting
it.

Ø She should show students that they have to wash their hands after doing any activity.
That is why she should wash her hands before them after completing any activity.

Ø Before presenting any activity, the directress needs to practice a lot with the material
herself.

Ø The directress should not speak while presenting the activity because it may divert
the attention of the students.

Ø She should demonstrate her presentation in a relaxed, calm and cheerful way to
facilitate the students.

Ø She should demonstrate her lesson in such a way that the lesson should seem brief
and easy.

Ø Ask students to bring material with her and briefly tell him about what they are going
to do.

Ø After the completion of the activity, put all things back to their places with the help of
the children.

Ø The directress should make all students aware about dangerous tools i.e. knives,
match boxes etc. and teach them how to handle those kinds of tools.
Ø She should observe the children very keenly.

Ø Those activities which are not being used by children should be put away.

Ø The directress should observe this thing which activities need to be present again or
repeat.

Ø She should keep in mind that demonstrations need to repeat from time to time.

Ø The teacher should not interrupt the child while doing activity incorrectly but she can
demonstrate the same activity later on.

Ø She should appreciate students as appreciation makes everything perfect.

ANS 4

FORMAL SETTING OF A TABLE

Materials:

· A fork, spoon, and knife

· A drinking glass
· Napkin
· Butter plate
· Salad plate

Presentation:

1. To present a formal table setting, gather students around the table.

2. Place things in their right places.
3. Dinner plate should be place in the middle
4. Put the knife on the right side of the dinner plate and fork and spoon on the left
side.
5. Salad plate should be placed next to the fork.
6. Place a glass for water at the top right side of the dinner plate.
7. Put the napkin on the dinner plate.
8. Repeat all procedures one more time.
9. Now ask students one by one to do as you did.

Age Group:
3 ½ and onwards

Chicken spread sandwich:

Exercise:

1 1/2 to 2 cups minced cooked chicken

1/4 to 1/3 cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper, to taste
cayenne, garlic, onion powder, your choice, to taste

Preparation:

1. Introduce all ingredients to children first.

2. Then add all ingredients one by one in front of them.

3. Mix them all.

4. Now ask all students to make it one by one.

ANS 5

EPL
Make bed.
Pick up toys.
Match socks.
Water plants.
Fold towels.
Dust furniture.
Feed pets.
Clear the table.
Fold laundry.
Clear place after meals. .