Tuesday, October 20, 2015

What You Can Learn in the Practical Life Work Station

In the Montessori preschool program the classroom is the living room. They work in a defined area to start and over time develop into a community including high concentration and few distractions.

The Water Pouring Exercise

This Practical Life workstation is designed for children starting at about 15 months old. You will want to use dry ingredients to start as you gauge the child's readiness for liquids in this area.

This exercise will help a preschooler develop:
  • Hand to eye coordination
  • Concentration
  • How to aim for a specified direction
  • Overall fine motor skills.

Another skill incorporated with this workstation is learning how to clean up if spills occur.

Materials You Will Need:

Two small pitchers that are either identical or closely resemble each other. The small creamer size is perfect for this age group. You can find them at thrift stores and they can be used for other Practical Life activities later. You will need water to put in the pitchers, cloth to wipe up spills and a tray.

How to Conduct Activity
  1.      The child should carry all the materials on the tray to a table you have set up for this specific activity – a place you will not mind if spills occur. Have the child sit in front of the tray and you can sit on either side of her.
  2.      Fill the pitcher on one side with a small amount of the water and show her how to use care when pouring to the second pitcher.
  3.      Demonstrate how to wrap the fingers around the handle and support the pitcher with the other hand.
  4.      Have the child practice pouring the water back and forth between the two pitchers. If there are spills, consider them part of the lesson and instruct your child on how to clean them up.

As a child's skill improves with this activity, you can move to having her pour her own juice, water or milk for snack. She can then move onto pouring for others at meal times. You will not believe how important a young child will feel being given this small piece of responsibility.

You can contact the Montessori Children’s Center to schedule a tour today. Get your child started on the right path to ensure she has the development skills needed to grow physically and mentally. 
SHARE

Author: verified_user