Essai n°2 - Activités de la vie quotidienne

Voici le deuxième essai que j'ai rédigé dans le cadre de ma formation Montessori. Il concerne les premières activités que le petit Montessorien découvre en entrant à l'école: les activités de la vie quotidienne. Bonne lecture !

In a Montessori classroom, the activities of Everyday Living play a fundamental role. Preparing the child for their future life, they are made to help the child to reach many objectives: the direct and the indirect ones (MCI, 2009, Module 6, Chapter 1, p.3). The first objectives are obvious: they concern the development or refinement of a particular skill that the child will reach by using the material. But mastering these skills will also allow the child to gain order, concentration, social skill and independence. We can ask ourselves now: how do they meet those indirect objectives? First, we are going to present both the direct and indirect aims of such activities, focusing on the objective of independence. Then, we will illustrate our point with examples taken from each of the three areas of activities. To finish, we will see how the adult can facilitate the reach of those objectives, helping the child to help himself.

First, let us focus on the four main indirect objectives that underpin those activities: concentration, social aspects and skills, order and independence.

            Concentration grows as the child repeats the activity many times to perfect the skill. They chose an activity and focus for a long time in order to solve the problem they freely decided to face, being then fully involved. A child learns to regulate attention and to concentrate thanks to movement directed by the mind (Feez, 2010).

            By learning how to behave in the classroom and among their social group, the child can be part of this group. From 3 years old, the child has reached the second stage of the absorbent mind – the social embryonic stage is developing. Therefore, the child stops being self-centered and starts to be conscious about other people and their needs. The activities of Everyday Living such as grace and courtesy or care for oneself and for the environment foster the good behavior of the child, facilitating the “social cohesion” (MCI, 2009, Module 6, Chapter 1, p.6).

            Order is linked with the human tendency for exactitude, and the sensitive period for order. The environment – both emotional and material - has to be organized and predictable, so the child can absorb it and build his/her understanding of the world. Therefore, the environment has to be clear, simple and systematic. The child has to learn to be part of this environment, using it without disturbing it (picking a piece of material and putting it back to the shelf after the activity, for example). 

            Independence is the goal of growth. With such activities, they perfect the skills they need to act freely in their everyday life and do what they want to do by themselves. It boosts their self-esteem, self-confidence and initiative in order to take new challenges in their lives.

            Those indirect objectives lead the child, in Montessori’s holistic point of view, to become a competent member of society, in command of their body and soul through the control of movement and attention.

Among those indirect objectives, independence is the main one. Let us now focus on this one.

The child, following his hormic impulse, “[has] an innate desire to do things by [himself]” (MCI, 2009, Module 6, Chapter 1, p.6). Maria Montessori insists on this point: “The child’s nature is to aim directly and energetically at functional independence. Development takes the form of a drive toward an ever greater independence.” (Montessori, 1988, p.83) This “drive” is coming from the horme, a “vital force inside him that guides his efforts towards their goal” (Montessori, 1988, p.83). We should underline the difference between the horme and the will. Whereas the horme is strong in the first months of age, the will is a conscious power, which blooms from the age of 3.

            Thus, the young child follows unconsciously this intrinsic desire – “the divine urge, the source of all evolution” (Montessori, 1988, p.84) - to live their life by themselves, without the help or assistance of the adults. They work with great interest and commitment because they fulfill a natural and biological need (Standing, 1998). For Montessori, the natural development is the conquest of independence, step by step towards freedom. Montessori notices different periods in this conquest: first the baby is stuck in the womb, totally dependent from the mother. Then, from birth, they have an urge to face the outer world. By the age of 6 months, a great step towards dependence happens: the child is no longer dependent from her mother’s milk and is able to feed themselves with other food. This critical period is characterized also by the beginning of language: little by little, the child learns how to express their needs so they no longer depend on other people’s guessing. Another great step towards independence happens by the age of 1 year: the child begins to walk, “[setting] him free from another prison” (Montessori, 1988, p.86). After independence in his moves, he is seeking for independence in his thoughts, and wants then to develop his mind by his own experiences. The goal of growth is “independence of body and mind” (Montessori, 1988, p.91).

            Independence is not a static condition; it keeps on changing all lifelong. According to Montessori, independence is a physiological state, that the child develops though exercises such as those of Everyday Living. They help the child to make voluntary choices, not controlled by impulse but by their own willpower (Feez, 2010). This is why, as teachers and adults, we have to help the child to help himself. 

The activities of Everyday Living are organized in three main areas: activities to develop and refine manipulative skills, activities for care of self, and activities for care of the environment. How do they help the child to gain independence, concentration, social skills and order?

            First, let us focus on the activities to develop and refine manipulative skills, such as pouring from jug to jug. With this activity, the child will obviously master how to hold the jug, how to check the level of the liquid. But he/she will learn much more. Let us take the example of Amber, a 4 years old toddler from the Children’s House. One morning, she decides to work on this activity. First, she takes the trail from the shelf and put it on a table. She pours the liquid from one jug to another, with almost no hesitation. It is not the first time she works on it. But even if she is almost an expert, she enjoys repeating this movement. By trying many times, Amber develops her concentration. After a while, when her interest has gone, she decides to do something else. Thus, she puts back all the material in the exact position it was settled when she took it, and stands up. She follows and fosters order in the environment around her. She carries the trail to the shelf where it was, and put it back on place. Then, she goes for another transferring activity. Eventually, the material is already being used by another child. Amber decides to wait for her turn, and goes for her snack. Waiting for her turn and replacing the material back as it was before are two important learning of Everyday Life Activities for social skills and order. Moreover, by learning how to pour a liquid from one jug to another, Amber actually learns to fulfill her future needs, when she will be thirsty and will want to help herself a glass of water. Or when later she will want to make the pancakes dough and measure the milk with the measuring glass. With this activity, Amber is learning how to be more independent.

            The second area concerns the activities for care of self. Eating is one of the major activities of the type, like sharing mealtime. This activity supports order: everyday at 12.30, Amber takes her table mat, places her spoon and fork next to her plate, and seat down. It fosters her social skills as well, as she learns how to follow the grace and courtesy rules. After waiting for everybody to be served at her table, Amber will enjoy a conversation with her friends. This moment of sharing reinforces the cohesion in the social unit. Moreover, mealtime facilitates her independence inside and outside the classroom, as Amber learns how to eat with a nice behavior and in a clean way.

            The activities for the care of environment are the last area. In P3, the children bought golden fish one month ago. We could see that those animals created a link between the teenagers, as they shared a common interest. A group cohesion had been created around the fish tank. It also helped them to develop empathy, and self esteem, as they realized that alive beings relied on them for food and care; developing their social skills. By having to organize and remember to feed the fish or clean the tank, they gain in concentration and order. Then, they become more independent by learning how to take care of an animal if they want to have one at home later.

The environment is fundamental in the process of growth: “the behavior of every individual is product of his environmental experience” (Montessori, 1988, p.88). As adults, we have to prepare the environment, in harmony with the child’s needs and learning progress. Knowing the phases of development and sensitive periods will allow the teacher to create adequate activities for the children of their class. Keeping in mind the indirect objectives for Activities of Everyday Living, the teacher will be able to design activities and organize the classroom in order to favor the autonomy of the child. The environment has to be rich, so he has many opportunities to acquire independence. The teacher has to design activities with control of error, so the child can work in autonomy, without relying on the adult approval.   

            The teacher has to be patient, and follow the child. We have to let him/her repeat and imitate as much as they need to do so. The child wouldn’t bloom at his full potential without freedom. Montessori says: “only through freedom and environmental experience is it practically possible for human development to occur” (Montessori, 1988, p.96).

            Let us take the example of the walk. Maria Montessori had studied the physical development of the child; from his birth until the moment he is able to walk (Montessori, 1988). We can see that the process needs a long time, and it is only when the body is ready (bones, muscles, scalp) that the child stands up to his first steps. Nature knows when the moment comes, and as adults we have to allow nature to speak and not rush any steps: “in this way it is nature who commands and not the nurse” (Montessori, 1988, p.131). Therefore, when we are outside with the child, “we must walk with the child and not having the child with us” (Montessori, p.129). And this until the child is able to walk alone, totally independent from the adult. In his path towards autonomy, the child needs to face challenges of life by himself.

            I have testified some days ago a scene in the Children’s House that illustrated well the behavior of a good teacher. Fedja was pouring himself some water when he accidently dropped the glass. The glass broke into many pieces spread all over the place. The teacher was right next to him. Instead of rushing towards the broom to pick up the glass, she let Fedja staring at the ground for a second, before he went to take the cleaning material. By not intervening when the glass broke, the teacher allowed Fedja to solve the problem he was facing on his own.

            Unfortunately, many times we see parents doing everything for their children. I met a 5 years old boy who had no idea of how to close his jacket alone, because her mother was always doing it for him. But this behavior is actually going against the natural will of the child, who wants to be independent. Maria Montessori says that: “To a certain point, every help given to the child is an obstacle to his development. We must give children service that assists his development, not service that obstructs development” (Montessori, 1989, p.134). In a word, we have to help the child to help himself, and this is possible only in a prepared and adapted environment.

            This is why the furniture and classroom have to be designed according to the children’s size and strength: to underline just few elements of the environment, the instruments used in the Activities of Everyday Living have to be real objects, not toys (Montessori, 1989). The glass of Fedja has to be made of glass; otherwise he won’t know how to react if he drops a real glass at home. The adult has to pay a special attention in finding and designing material with real objects, but adapted to the child. The teacher can also use colors to make it more obvious (as the set for hand washing for example). Using real objects as grownups makes the children filled with a special joy (Montessori, 1989). 

            The aim of the adult is to the child to perform the task in a more perfect way: “in a word, there is no action which we do not try and teach so as to approach perfection. We leave nothing to chance”, says Montessori (Standing, 1988, p.216). After thinking and elaborating the piece of material with different level of difficulties, the teacher will demonstrate his use to the child. We have to show the actions in details, as objectively as possible, so the child is not confused about the movements and can act in his own way.

            Maria Montessori states that “if the child is prevented from enjoying these experiences at the very time when nature has planned for him to do so, the special sensitivity which draws him to them will vanish, with a disturbing effect on his development and consequently on his maturation” (Montessori, 1988, p.95). Thus, an adult who wants to rush a kid, or force him to do an activity too resistant for the child will become a barrier to the child’s development. The child will deviate from what his horme urges him to do, and won’t be ever able to reach his all potential.

Allowing children to grow as independent adult is the aim of education. The child has to be allowed to be autonomous since his/her birth, expressing his hormic impulse to live his life by him/herself. Adults have to prepare and adapt the environment of the child so he/she can behave freely. This is the only way we can help the child to help himself, until he/she doesn’t need our help anymore. Then our mission as teacher or adult will be fulfilled.