Benefits of Montessori education

Montessori children learn concretely.when I was young I learnt math abstractly .starting from the association to the symbol and the quantity ,how the tens increases and how much is one hundred and how big is one thousand and doing the addition like 2+3 = 5 or 2 times 3 is 6 ,but here the children ,learn concretely through skip counting of the beads or through the solid objects.whatever the children learn they understand while they do.sometimes I envy at the children and think back the olden days where I am "terrified" of math.

Practical Life works- Spooning Small Shells

Spooning small shells

Materials:
· Small shells
· Small spoon
· Scalloped shaped container divided into 2 compartments
· Tray

Work surface:
Table

Presentations
· Invite child
· Select work and bring it to the table
· Place in front
· Using your dominant hand take the spoon
· Transfer the shells from left side of the container to right side of the container.
· Continue until all shells are done.
· Return shells to the left side of the container
· Check for any spilled shells
· Return work to shelf
· Invite child

Extensions/variations:
· Various spoons
· Various containers
· Various materials
· From one type of container to another type of container

Points of interest:
· Sound of shells as it is spooned
· The container
· Holding spoon
Control of error:
· Noise
· Spills
· Shells in container
· Nothing in spoon

Language:
Shells, spooning, empty

Age:
3 & up
Aims:
OCCI, Learning to spoon, preparation for writing

Practical Life works- Shell tweezing

Materials:

Tray, tweezers, a scalloped shaped closed container (has 2 compartments) containing money cowrie’s shells.

Work Surface:
Table

Presentation:
· Invite child/group.
· Select work from the shelf and place it on the table.
· Open the container
· Use your dominant hand and pick up the tweezers
· Examine tension and hand position by opening and closing.
· Hold the tweezers and pick up the shells
· . Begin to transfer the shells from the left side and into the right side.
· Continue until all the shells are transferred.
· Reverse the procedure and transfer from right to left.
· Admire the work and place it neatly on the shelf.
· Invite child/group.

Extensions/Variations:
· Different types of tongs
· Chop sticks
· Tweezers
· Melon baller
· Spoons
· Different container

Points of interest:
· Picking up shells
· Releasing the shells
· Different types of shells
· The container itself

Control of Error:
· Dropping shells on the other side
· Tweezers has right tension




Language:
Tweezers, squeeze, tight, release, transfer, left, right, objects

Age:
2 ½ & up

Aims:
OCCI. Learning to use tongs and tweezers.

Practical Example - Shell Polishing

Materials:
An abalone shell, baby oil in container, paintbrush, small piece of cloth, mat, sand paper tray

Work Surface:
Table

Presentation:
· Invite child
· Get work or go to the preset table
· Take the mat
· Take the shell and place it on the mat. Examine it
· Take the sand paper and sand the shell
· Squeeze a minimum of three drops of oil on the shell
· With your subdominant hand hold the shell
· Take the paintbrush in your dominant hand and start polishing it
· Take the piece of cloth and rub it in circles on the shell
· Observe old polish on cloth
· Admire
· Return all items to original places
· Invite child

Extensions/
Variations:
· Brass polishing
· Mirror polishing
· Silver polishing
· Car washing
· Wood polishing
· Shell washing

Points of Interest:
· Abalone shell
· Smell of the oil
· Use of paint brush
· Circular motion

Control of Error:
· Using the right size of paint brush
· Using the right amount of oil

Language:
Dull, Shiny, Shell, Baby Oil, Paintbrush, Etcetera

Age:
3+

Aims:
OCCI, Responsibility, learning to polish, care of environment, preparing for math

Practical Life works- One to One Correspondence

Materials:
· Knobbed Whelk Shells for each divided section in the ice cube
· Shell shaped ice cube tray
· Plastic tongs
· A container to hold the shells
· A tray

Work Surface:
Table

Presentations:

· Invite child/group
· Select work from the shelf and place it on the table
· Place the work in front of you on the table
· Invite the child to sit on your sub –dominant side.
· Use your dominant hand and pick up the tongs
· Examine tension and hand position by opening and closing.
· Open the tongs and pick up the shells
· Place object into one of the empty sections in the ice cube tray.
· Repeat this action until each section has one object and none of the sections is empty.
· Admire the work.
· Remove each object individually with pincer grasp and replace into the container.
· Invite child/group.
· Replace the work on the shelf.

Extensions/Variations:

· Different types of tongs
· Chop sticks
· Tweezers
· Meat baler
· Pincer grasp
· Different divided tray

Points of interest:
· Picking up shells
· Releasing the shells
· Placing them in the ice cube tray
· Each object has its own place

Control of Error:
· Dropping shells on the tray
· Tongs can be too loose or too tight
· Exact number of objects for number of spaces

Language:
Tongs, squeeze, tight, release, transfer, left, right, objects, Ice cube tray, shells

Age:
2 ½ & up

Aims:
OCCI. Learning to use tongs and tweezers, writing preparation.

Practical Life works - Sorting -Rough and Smooth ( Shells)

Sorting -Rough and Smooth ( Shells)

Materials:
Wooden box, rough and smooth shells, rough and smooth label cards, tray.

Work Surface:
Rug

Presentation:
1. Invite child
2. Wash and dry your hands
3. Go to shelf and bring material
4. Open box and place on bottom of your subdominant side
5. With dominant hand take out shells from the box, one by one and place it on the right side of the box.
6. Take the rough label card, read out loud and keep it on the upper left side of the rug.
7. Take the smooth label card, read out loud and keep it to the right side of the rug
8. Take a shell and hold it in your sub dominant hand. With your dominant hand stroke and feel the texture of the shell
9. If rough say “rough” and put it under the label that says rough.
10. If smooth say “smooth” and put it under the label that says smooth
11. Repeat the same with the rest of the shells till all the shells are sorted by rough and smooth
12. Admire
13. Return shells one by one into the box.
14. Return the work to the shelf
15. Invite the child

Extensions/Variations:
1. Different objects-rocks, fabrics, wooden blocks
2. Sort rough and smooth with blind folded

Points of interest:
1. Different types of shells
2. Taking the shells out of the box
3. Holding it in the hands
4. Sorting

Control of error:
1. Tactile disharmony

Language:
Rough and smooth, shell

Age:
3 and up

Aims:
OCCI, tactile discrimination

Practical Life works- Shell tonging

Shell tonging - Writing and Cutting Preparations

Materials:
1. Tray
2. Two Containers
3. Tongs
4. Materials to Transfer (shells,eggs ,balls ,nuts)

Work Surface: Table

Presentation:

· Invite child/group.
· Select work from the shelf and place it on the table.
· Pick up the tongs and examine tension and hand position by opening and closing.
· Open the tongs and pick up the shells.
being transferred from the left container and lower the tongs into the right container. (As a child would move his/her head while reading a row of words on a page.)
· Then release the objects into the right container.
· Continue until all the shells are transferred.
· Reverse the procedure and transfer from the right to left. (As a child would move his/her head when he/she would move his/her head while moving to a row lower than he/she was on.)
· Admire the work and place it neatly on the shelf. Invite child/group.