Reflection on reading: Movement/The Work of the Child
Education in Movement
“One of the most important practical aspects of our method has been to make the training of the muscles enter into the very life of the children so that it is intimately connected with their daily activities. Education in movement is thus fully incorporated into the education of the child’s personality. Everybody admits that a child must be constantly on the move. This need for movement, which is irresistible in childhood, apparently diminishes with the development of inhibiting forces at the time…” (The Discovery of the Child p 79)
“Repetition is the secret of perfection, and this is why the exercises are connected with the common activities of daily life. If a child does not set a table for a group of people who are really going to eat, if he does have real brushes for cleaning, and real carpets to sweep whenever they are used, if he does not himself have to wash and dry dishes and glasses he will never attain any real ability.” (The Discovery of the Child p 92)
The exercises of Practical Life offer the child the opportunity to develop confidence and competence in such activities as dish washing, floor scrubbing, and chair washing. Such activities enable the child to develop his/her own interior discipline and order, building autonomy and intrinsic motivation, through the use of his/her hands. They provide the child with the real-life social setting to frequently and consistently utilize these skills in a directed environment. Practical Life activities educate the child to carry out organized sequences of activity, employing the body in the service of the mind.
According to Montessori theory, we have a human tendency toward perfection. Children repeat the exercises over and over. If the environment provides feedback so that children do not keep repeating the same errors, and children are driven to repeat exercises until they can do them perfectly, then they will eventually master them.
Education in Movement
“One of the most important practical aspects of our method has been to make the training of the muscles enter into the very life of the children so that it is intimately connected with their daily activities. Education in movement is thus fully incorporated into the education of the child’s personality. Everybody admits that a child must be constantly on the move. This need for movement, which is irresistible in childhood, apparently diminishes with the development of inhibiting forces at the time…” (The Discovery of the Child p 79)
“Repetition is the secret of perfection, and this is why the exercises are connected with the common activities of daily life. If a child does not set a table for a group of people who are really going to eat, if he does have real brushes for cleaning, and real carpets to sweep whenever they are used, if he does not himself have to wash and dry dishes and glasses he will never attain any real ability.” (The Discovery of the Child p 92)
The exercises of Practical Life offer the child the opportunity to develop confidence and competence in such activities as dish washing, floor scrubbing, and chair washing. Such activities enable the child to develop his/her own interior discipline and order, building autonomy and intrinsic motivation, through the use of his/her hands. They provide the child with the real-life social setting to frequently and consistently utilize these skills in a directed environment. Practical Life activities educate the child to carry out organized sequences of activity, employing the body in the service of the mind.
According to Montessori theory, we have a human tendency toward perfection. Children repeat the exercises over and over. If the environment provides feedback so that children do not keep repeating the same errors, and children are driven to repeat exercises until they can do them perfectly, then they will eventually master them.