Practical Life Activities Essays
1.“Practical Life Activities are an aid to life.” Explain.
2. What other benefits does the child derive from Practical life exercises?
1.“Practical Life Activities are an aid to life.” Explain.
Practical Life Activities are exercises through which a child learns how to do everyday life activities in a purposeful way.
In the Montessori setting children are encouraged to do Practical life exercises as part of the curriculum. These are common regular activities that human beings carry out in the course of a day.
The duty of an adult, the parent is to help the child learn about the environment, community and society they live in, so that the child can grow up into a full functional member of the community. It is therefore important that children learn how to not only clothe themselves but also how to keep their surroundings clean, how to cook and how to behave and interact with others. Practical Life Activities in the Montessori curriculum provides this for the child, and therefore is an aid to life.
Maria Montessori believed in educating the whole being and not just the intellect. She was absolutely right. Before the commencement of western education and the school system as we know it today, what all children actually learnt from birth to adulthood, are these same practical life activities, and this was more or less all they needed to function well in the society.
Nigeria today, finds its educated young parents too busy to spend adequate time with their children in order to teach them these basic life skills, instead you find young parents more concerned about their child’s academic performance. The Montessori curriculum is therefore a very important factor that can make up for this shortfall, and ensure that the modern Nigerian child is given the right aids to life through the Practical life exercises contained in the Practical Life Activity curriculum.
These include:
1.Elementary Movement and Preliminary Exercises: Carrying a Mat, Rolling
2. What other benefits does the child derive from Practical life exercises?
1.“Practical Life Activities are an aid to life.” Explain.
Practical Life Activities are exercises through which a child learns how to do everyday life activities in a purposeful way.
In the Montessori setting children are encouraged to do Practical life exercises as part of the curriculum. These are common regular activities that human beings carry out in the course of a day.
The duty of an adult, the parent is to help the child learn about the environment, community and society they live in, so that the child can grow up into a full functional member of the community. It is therefore important that children learn how to not only clothe themselves but also how to keep their surroundings clean, how to cook and how to behave and interact with others. Practical Life Activities in the Montessori curriculum provides this for the child, and therefore is an aid to life.
Maria Montessori believed in educating the whole being and not just the intellect. She was absolutely right. Before the commencement of western education and the school system as we know it today, what all children actually learnt from birth to adulthood, are these same practical life activities, and this was more or less all they needed to function well in the society.
Nigeria today, finds its educated young parents too busy to spend adequate time with their children in order to teach them these basic life skills, instead you find young parents more concerned about their child’s academic performance. The Montessori curriculum is therefore a very important factor that can make up for this shortfall, and ensure that the modern Nigerian child is given the right aids to life through the Practical life exercises contained in the Practical Life Activity curriculum.
These include:
1.Elementary Movement and Preliminary Exercises: Carrying a Mat, Rolling
Bibliography: 1. Efuniyi, Bolajoko, Practical Life Exercises an Aid To Life, Center for Montessori Ed 2. Efuniyi, Bolajoko, Fundamentals of Montessori Method of Education, Center for Montessori Ed 3. Ogunkanmbi, Abraham, The Montessori Method, O&B Ventures (2008)