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Practical Life Activities

Practical life activities give the children the opportunity to organize their motor activities in an individualized way to achieve a particular goal. These activities augment the children’s self-respect and support healthy autonomy.
The experience of real work in the environment gives the children a way to increase their knowledge and understanding of the elements of their environment and the tasks they have observed adults performing.
These experiences allow the children to inform and express their love for the activities and the objects in the world around them.

Care of the Environment

Activities such as arranging tiny vases of flowers, mopping up spills, watering plants, sponging a table, polishing mirrors, and washing windows give children of this age great pleasure and self-esteem.

Care of the Self
The children enjoy having all the time in the world to wash their hands, wipe their faces, hang up their wraps, change their shoes, clean their noses, button, snap, zip, and buckle their clothes. They receive as much or as little assistance as they need. From the beginning, the children wear training pants instead of diapers and start using the toilet in imitation of their peers.

Expression
These activities allow the children to express their distinct individuality and to create in their own unique way. Materials for scribbling, painting, and modeling clay are presented for the children’s exploration. Listening to music of different composers and different instruments awakens and develops specific areas of the brain and stimulates emotional responsiveness. Singing songs together is a daily activity that strengthens the emotional bonds of the community.

Food Preparation, Setting the Table, Sharing a Meal, Clearing Away
The children enjoy preparing food to serve to one another, which enhances their feelings of loving and caring for one another. By activities such as peeling, slicing, spooning, pouring, stirring, and scraping, the children develop their concentration, focus, and fine motor coordination. The children have the opportunity to experience a whole activity and understand the sequence of steps that brings it to completion.
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Austin Montessori School is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex or gender, disability, or age in providing educational services, activities, and programs. Austin Montessori School complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), as amended, which incorporates and expands upon the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended; and any other legally-protected classification or status protected by applicable law.