The Prepared Environment

Practical Life Area

In the practical life area, there are four distinct groups of activities.

Care of Self:  These exercises empower the child in the functions of daily life.  Some examples of these exercises are dressing/undressing and personnel hygiene, such as nose blowing and hand washing.

Care of Environment:  These exercises develop the child’s awareness of the Montessori environment through maintaining it.  The children take an active role in maintaining their environment by putting materials away, washing tables, dusting shelves, sweeping, and performing other daily duties, to which they joyfully attend. Through these experiences, the children gain a sense of community through working together, develop a sense of place, and learn responsibility. 

Development of Social Relationships (Grace and Courtesy):  These activities arise out of the daily needs of the environment.  They allow the children to role play how to respond to specific social situations that arise in their daily activities; for example, how to introduce themselves, how to show respect for the other children’s space/work area, and how to communicate within a group.

Movement:  These are exercises that give the child the opportunity to move freely within the environment with respect for others.  For example, moving furniture to accommodate their workspace, walking on the line, and moving around mats/work on the floor without disturbing others.  These opportunities aid the child in the refinement of their large and small motor skills through the use of delicate materials.

These activities are familiar to the children because  they have seen many of them performed at home from an early age.  The young child is attracted to these practical activities because they allow independence in both the Children’s House and the home environment.

Sensorial Materials

In the sensorial area of the environment, the children refine their senses of touch, sight, sound, taste, and smell through working with specific materials.  These materials and the corresponding language given with them enable the children to clarify, classify, and comprehend the world.  The activities offer the keys for further exploration and imagination. In this area, the children gain a foundation in reality, which will later help them pursue their studies in Math, Geometry, Botany, and Biology.

Mathematics

The Montessori Children’s House environment is rich with opportunities to engage the children’s natural abilities to comprehend their world from a mathematical perspective.  In the Children’s House, the children experience mathematical concepts through manipulative experience with concrete materials such as beads, cubes, counters, and day-to-day life in their community.  Once the children have an understanding of quantity, they begin working with the corresponding symbol, i.e., the numerals. Within the framework of the decimal system, the children absorb the meaning of the four operations of math: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Through additional activities with linear counting and memorization, the children are able to utilize the potential of their mathematical mind.

Language

The Montessori environment is a living example of language development in children.  Spoken language is encouraged through lessons and conversations with peers and adults.  Written language is phonetically based. Children first hear sounds in words, and then learn how sounds are associated with a symbol (sandpaper letters and the moveable alphabet).  Eventually, the children discover that they are able to write by putting the sounds together.  Later, reading develops through this practice of writing.  As the children develop their reading and writing skills, the function of words and grammar basics are introduced.  These materials enable children to achieve a higher level of comprehension that Dr. Montessori referred to as “Total Reading.”

Call us today to schedule a tour of our school, 651.429.3710 or email us.