วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 3 กันยายน พ.ศ. 2558

The Practical Life Exercises

The Practical Life Exercises (คัดลอกมาจาก หนังสือของ Aline D.Wolf)
 "A child's work," Dr. Montessori wrote, "is to create the man he will become. An adult works to perfect the environment but a child works to perfect himself."
This distinction can be illustrated by looking closely at two people who are shoveling sand on a beach on a hot day. One is a man who is trying to fill a large barrel with sand; the other, a little boy, who is filling a pail with sand, dumping it out, and then filling it again. If anyone offers to help the man he readily hands over she shovel; but any efforts to help the little boy are resisted. He clings to his shovel because the work he is doing can be done only by himself. By constant repetition of motions he is strengthening his muscles, perfecting his coordination an gaining confidence in a particular skill. No one tells him that he has to shovel the sand; he is guided by direction deep within his own nature.
     Using the child's natural inclinations as a point  of departure, Dr. Montessori structured several exercises for the classroom to help the child satisfy this need for meaningful activity. For these exercises she used familiar objects-buttons, brushes, dishes, pitches, water and many other things that the child recognizes from his home experience.
     For the young child there is something special about tasks that an adult considers ordinary-washing dishes, cutting celery, and polishing shoes. They are exciting to the child because they allow him to imitate adults. Imitation is one of the child's strongest urges during his early years.
     Several of the Practical Life Exercises involve the use of water with which most children naturally like to play. Carrying the water in a pitcher and pouring it into a basin helps the child to perfect his coordination. As he becomes absorbed in an activity such as scrubbing a table top, he gradually lengthens his span of concentration. He also learns to pay attention to details as he follows a regular sequence of actions. Finally, he learns good working habits as he finishes each task and puts away all his materials before beginning another activity.
     Although the Practical Life Exercises may seem simple and common place, they are actually a very important part of the Montessori program. Each of the tasks helps a child to perfect his coordination so that he will be able to work later with the more intricate academic materials. No learning takes place without concentration and attention. The child prepares to learn by performing exercises that help him to gradually lengthen the time in which he can focus his attention on a specific activity.
The Dressing Frames
     The Dressing Frames are an important component of the Practical Life Exercises. Each frame isolates one skill of dressing and offers a child the opportunity to perfect this skill by repeating the motion over and over, thus helping him to become independent in dressing himself. The frames can offer practice in any or all of the following: buttons, snaps, zipper, pins, buckles, laces, hooks and eyes, and bows to tied. In the frame that features bow-tying, Dr. Montessori felt it was significant to have two different colored ribbons so that when giving assistance the teacher can say,"Put the block one around the white one." rather than saying, "Put this one around that one."
     Since there are many opportunities for Practical Life Exercises in the home, parents can encourage each child in the skills of dressing himself as soon as he shows interest in any of them. If the child wants to wash dishes, sort objects, polish silver, or pour milk, the parents should require the same orderly procedure that is encouraged in the classroom, so that good working habits may become second nature to the child.

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