Practical Life Work

This post is for Liz :)

Spooning

This is preliminary work for learning proper pencil grasping. You always start spooning from left to right, like reading.

(It also gives the child lots of practice in sweeping up. :)

Flower Arranging

This is a practical life work that enables the child to participate in caring for her environment.

You can find bud vases at Target or thrift stores and I got the placemat, the beautiful small white pitcher and the rose-y flower holder at Ross, for $.50, $2.99 and $1.99 respectively.

Window Washing

This falls under Care of the Environment too. The girls spray (a mixture of white vinegar and water), then squeegee and wipe with the cloth.

I got the container and the spray bottle in the dollar section of Target, the squeegee in the grocery store for about $2, and the cloth at Gabriel Brothers for around $0.50.

Table Scrubbing
This work isn't quite the same as it is set up in a Montessori classroom --it has its own permanent station -- but it works better in our house to have it be portable and compact. The child sprays the table with water to get it wet, then uses the little scrub brush (which I got at Montessori Services ), all soaped up, to scrub the table, left to right. Then the sponge wipes off the soap and the cloth dries it.

Here is how the child should lay it out, from left to right in order of use:

Sweeping

Here are the child-size brooms I have. One is for outdoors and one for indoors. These are regularly used by both girls. :)

This is "the girls' cabinet" in the kitchen. On the top shelf ( left to right) there are the table scrubbing basket, a tray with refill cloths for the face cleaning work, drawers of child-size silverware (spoons, forks and knives each in their own drawer) and small pitchers. The bottom shelf (clockwise from back left) has the window washing, the tupperware and such, water bottles, the face cleaning tray and a tray with glasses, bowls and plates for the girls. Hanging on the sides are a bib and a little brush and dustpan set.

This cabinet gives them independence in getting the items needed for meals and snacks, and cleaning up after themselves. One thing I would like to eventually add is a small bucket with a sponge and/or a cloth for cleaning up spills.

Gardening

The girls received these gardening hand tools for Easter. (I bought them from Montessori Services, but I think they are now unavailable.) They love them! It never ceases to please and amaze me how beautifully children respond to real, serious small-scaled work objects. For example, they know that plastic "toy" garden tools are just that -- toys. Real little tools light up their eyes and fill them with pride -- they know that their work is important and respected! And they tend to treat these real, sharp objects with respect in return.