Later today I will post some pictures of children using materials in the Practical Life area. Practical Life is the foundation of the Early Childhood classroom. In a traditional preK and (very limited) Kindergartens, this area may look like the 'kitchen' or 'dramatic play' areas. The activities increase in difficulty, vary in size, develop fine motor skills and train the eye to move left to right & top to bottom to prepare for reading among other skills.
Each material in the Practical Life area has 5 ultimate goals: concentration, coordination, confidence, order, independence. I found a short and concise article written by Michael Olaf where he states:
Practical life activities may well be the most important work in the Montessori 3-6 class. By means of these activities the child learns to make intelligent choices, to become physically and then mentally independent and responsible. She learns to concentrate, to control muscles, to move and act with care, to focus, to analyze logical steps and complete a cycle of activity. This lays the groundwork for mental and physical work in all other areas of work, not just in early childhood, but throughout life.
Be sure to check out the bit "Participating in Family Life". It ties right in to October's classroom newsletter! :)
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