Practical Life exercises teach children to care for themselves, for others, and for the environment. They involve a wide variety of activities such as carrying objects, walking, polishing, sweeping, dusting, lacing, mainly activities that are done in day to day living. It is divided into four major areas namely: movement, care of self, care of environment, and grace and courtesy.

 

Through practical life exercises, he learns to refine his movements, becomes conscious of his body and of what his body can do. He learns how to move and act in a socially accepted manner, thus helping him in his task of adaptation. He learns the ways of social living and becomes comfortable and confident in his society.

After introduction by the teachers to the material, the children have the freedom to choose their work, as all the equipment is placed at the child’s eye-level and all furniture in the classroom is child-sized.

Once the children feel safe, all their energies can then be utilized to explore materials and experiences which have been designed to develop them intellectually, physically and psychologically. Each child has an individual map or “blue-print” that governs its personal capacity and speed of learning. All the Montessori materials and methods have been carefully designed to allow each child to progress at their own rate, spending a personally appropriate amount of time with each stage of development.

These exercises also teach the child to complete a task following a step-by-step procedure. This sequential ordering of tasks prepares him for the logical task that awaits him in mathematics. Likewise, activities in these areas are presented in isolation in order to help the child focus his attention only on a particular task.