“Help me to help myself” is one of the most well known Montessori mantras. Maria Montessori recognised the child’s innate need for independence and for learning rooted in real experiences of their environment in order to foster both physical and intellectual development.
An important principle of Montessori‘s philosophy is that children can only follow their natural course of development by engaging in real ‘work’ using their hands . Because children live in a world dominated by adults and their priorities, there can often be little opportunity for the child to fulfil this inner drive for independence. If the child’s attention is occupied purely by toys or screen-time, there is no opportunity to engage in activities of everyday life such as helping to set the table, load the washing machine, pour him or herself a drink or get dressed independently. “The child’s first instinct is to carry out his actions by himself, without anyone helping him and his first conscious bid for independence is made when he defends himself against those who try to do the action for him (Maria Montessori – The Absorbent Mind).
In a Montessori setting all of the Practical Life (or Activities of Everyday Living) activities are designed to aid the development of manipulative skills and include pouring, transferring, threading, sewing, cutting and pegging activities. These offer young children opportunities to perfect new skills which will provide them with the expertise to do things without adult help. These activities are often familiar to the children from their home environment and so help them to feel comfortable when they are settling into the nursery environment. Practitioners also have opportunities to create new activities when they observe children struggling with muscle control in their fingers or hands or when they struggle with the flexibility of the wrist or hand/eye coordination.
Everyday activities which can be encouraged at home to encourage all of the above include:
- Putting on and removing shoes and socks independently
- Buttoning clothing
- Hanging items on a peg
- Putting on and removing a coat
- Zipping a coat
