Develop longer focus and attention through Practical Life activities

Do you get tired of seeing your child always gravitating to the Practical Life (PL) area?  Well, I'm here to tell you, that it is not necessarily a bad thing for them.  Did you know that activities such as transferring, spooning, scooping, and washing dishes are beneficial to their learning process? <---Yes! I said washing dishes.

Practical Life.  The area of the classroom that not many understand.

This isn't about "playing" as so many would like to think.  PL offers many interesting ways for children to develop necessary skills like hand-eye coordination, longer focus, and attention span.

WHAAAAAAT???  "They do all of that?"

Why yes. They do, actually. Every activity in PL has an important function.  Tweezers?  Excellent for pincer grip, which inevitably aids in proper handling of a pencil. Table washing? Focus, focus, focus! (Sorry, I didn't mean to shout) You know that child in the classroom that spends fifteen minutes a day washing the table? When have you ever seen a 3 and 4 year old focus on ANYTHING for that long?

"Whoa!  I never thought of it that way."

That's OK.  Not many do.  PL is the foundation of the Montessori classroom.  These exercises provide a host of other valuable assets to the child.  Besides improving focus, attention span, and hand-eye coordination, they help in developing control, independence, care for self and environment, as well as order.

Activities are also developed to work left to right. Orderly thought patterns, perhaps?  Maybe.

You too, can do these activities at home with your child. Let them help you in the kitchen.  Hand them a broom. Guess what?  They can even assist in setting the table.  Children want to imitate what we adults can do.  Allow for extra time in the morning and let them dress themselves.  You will be surprised what your little one can accomplish.

Make and Take One Hundred Chain

That is what we call it in our classroom.  This is a number sequencing work that the children love mainly for the fact that they get to take it home and share with their families.

There are a few layers to this activity which include different areas of curriculum in a Primary Montessori classroom.  We're talking Practical Life, Art, and Math, all wrapped into one beautiful package. Let us not forget hand/eye coordination and an activity that encourages focus.

I mix the numbers for them so that when cutting them out they have to think about number placement as opposed  to simply cutting and gluing.  Here is a link to the pattern I use, http://www.math.kent.edu/~white/graphpaper/one-bold.pdf

Next, we bring out the glue!  Aren't you glad I didn't say glitter?  :) To reduce the mess level from Def Con 20 to more of a 5 we put glue in these cute little plastic jars (tiny bubble bottles that you find as Birthday party gifts in goodie bags) and supply them with Q-tips. I have experienced a less sticky classroom.

I make strips for the children to glue their squares in numerical order.  Eventually, each child will have ten strips with ten numbers up to one hundred. What?  Yes, counting by tens! I don't know about you, but growing up, counting by tens was the BEST.
Each set of ten numbers is in a different color.

This is an on-going project that I discovered online years ago, and it has been a hit ever since. Before I send the children home with their new One Hundred chain, I decorate our windows with them for a couple of weeks.  This allows for them to admire their hard work when entering the classroom.

Ideas for using this chain at home are a wonderful added extension.

You can give your child a marker.  This is where I encourage parents to keep it fun and interesting. Make your markers creative such as M&M's, Goldfish, Cheerios, or other snacks that they love to eat. Have them place the marker on the number you say between 1 - 100.

How about some addition and subtraction?  For example, ask them to cover numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 with markers. Add three more markers, which will put them at 7. Now, eat two. How many do you have left?  Show them that their marker rests on the answer after they count the remains.

How cool is that?  Have fun with your children and be supportive during their educational journey.  It is one of the most important things you can do for them as they grow.

Enjoy!