​A Montessori classroom allows for spectacular material exploration.  As with all areas, children are asked to interact with materials only after a lesson from their teacher.  Seeing peers receive or execute a lesson often creates excitement for another child’s “turn”.  Montessori professed the belief that with only one of each piece of material available in the classroom – students grow in respect of turn waiting, observation and delight in actual execution.
 
Lessons are presented individually or in small groupings and offer the most logical, sequential means to an end.  Top to bottom and left to right are always reinforced as an indirect means for later reading and writing.  These colourful, appealing materials that offer interaction with size, shape, weight and colour, appeal to the child’s inherent sense of order and excites their creativity.
 
As with all areas of the classroom respect for the materials, the environment and each other are supported.  As children move through the independent execution of gradation, colour comparisons, tower creation and maze making, the sensorial materials encourage sensory explorations and begins the journey in the recognition of each child’s best learning strategies.  Do I need to touch and manipulate to remember or does hearing something help me to retain – am I a visual learner, does printing or documentation work best for me?  Foundations are created at young ages for further establishment at the Elementary level.
 
Sensorial materials are aptly named. Materials that allow for sensory recognition – the fact that we can intake information in so many different ways.  They encourage visual discernment, tactile manipulation, sound creation and matching stimulation of smelling and tasting instincts but most importantly – as with all Montessori materials – they encourage “helping me to help myself” in my journey through all that a Montessori classroom has to offer.

​Which young child would not want to clean a window?  Water and a “squeegee” – how much more fun could there be?  The gathering of needed materials, the laying out of necessary equipment, the careful spraying of the area to be cleaned and the removal of the water…and all the dirt!  Careful not to leave streaks – attention to the “lines” in between each swipe and the glorious noise of the tap - Leaving things in readiness for the next person – can only create an atmosphere of pride and satisfaction.  The promotion of the “readiness of the environment” and worthwhile activities, real jobs with purpose, are the core of Montessori’s century old approach to sound, well rounded education.

Working with the materials to clean a window.

The joy and quiet excitement of every rice grain being transferred from one jug to the other.  The Practical Life materials offer a chance for self satisfying accomplishments.  The simple exercises of transferring pasta or beans between jugs or containers allows me a great sense of confidence when I am ready to pour coloured water between vessels.  Think of the self confidence component.  Usually, as adults, we steer children clear of water that can spill and need cleaning up.  Here, almost unbelievably, adults are encouraging me to pour!  All by myself!  Over and over again to my heart’s content!  And…I can even do it again tomorrow – getting better and better at it every time.

The pouring exercises both dry and wet, while once again allowing encouragement of a typically adult activity, encourage finger strength, dexterity, left to right reinforcement, organizational skills and the always important tidy preparation of the tray for the friend who will have the next turn.

​As I glanced into the classroom the other day – I was once again grateful to see that my belief in Montessori and my dedication to the method was being once again, reinforced.
 
A young lady at the ripe age of 22 months sat at a table, in front of her mat, with an absorbed concentration that was wonderful to share.  I watched as she put her scissors down, looked around, got up and walked over to the shelf and helped herself to an orange strip of paper.  Moving back to the table she centred her strip over her container and oh so carefully and meticulously cut her strip into tiny snips.  She glanced up, saw me looking, smiled and went back to her task.  Montessori at it’s finest.

Here is an excellent example where you can observe the concentration, dexterity and hand control required to carefully cut the strips.

​The Practical Life area of any Montessori Classroom provides the fascinating reality of child size, independence promoting, true to life activities that not only develop life skills but confidence, independence and pride.
 
Montessori believed that in order to develop academically we need to develop socially, emotionally, hygienically, independently…we need to develop as a whole person.  Pride in self hones pride in everything we do.
 
By creating activities for the children reproducing daily tasks that we, as adults, undertake without thought, Montessori encourages children to expand their levels of independence at a much younger age.  Young children see adults as fascinating things and are happy to mimic what we do and say…often perfectly.  The specially prepared materials in this area, allow them the satisfaction of executing adult activities without adult help.  As with everything in a Montessori classroom, activities are presented to students in an individual or small group lesson – after which the children are free to use the material at any time during the working period of their day.
 
The materials are presented in their most simplistic and logical fashion reinforcing “left to right” and “top to bottom” with concrete objects in real and useful activities while the child performs the task, excited that they are encouraged to pour or strain or cut or sift – basic foundations are being addressed.  Montessori created materials that encourage success and allow for rectification of mistakes. On so many levels the Practical Life exercises support the more academic components of the classroom – if nothing less providing a calmness and grounding of oneself in the execution of important daily activities.  These materials very much contribute to Montessori’s goal and belief in reaching the “normalization” of each child.