Montessori – Daily Life
A：Parents can start with simple tasks, such as scooping red beans (we suggest using materials already available at home). Parents should prepare a tray with two bowls and a spoon on it, and put about one-third of a bowl of red beans in the left bowl. Parents should start scooping red beans from the left bowl to the right bowl, and then return the red beans from the right bowl to the left bowl to complete the process. The process should be kept quiet so that the child can concentrate on observing the parent’s hand movements. It is recommended that the child sits on the other side of the parent’s hand to observe the process clearly.
A：There are many types of daily living tasks, which can be broadly categorized into 1) “food preparation”, such as cutting bananas, spreading jam, etc.; 2) “taking care of oneself”, such as zipper pulling, button fastening or self-grooming, etc.; 3) “environmental care”, such as cleaning the floor and table, arranging flowers and decorating the environment; and 4) “muscle coordination”. Third, “environmental care”, such as sweeping the floor and wiping the table, arranging flowers to decorate the environment; fourth, “muscle coordination”, such as pouring water, stringing beads, scooping beans and other tasks that require skill; and lastly, “social etiquette”, meaning the way of walking, greeting others or table manners. Parents should show their children the correct way of doing things in their daily life, and the children should observe and then practice to achieve the above four developmental directions gradually.
A：The essence of daily life work is to use real life utensils, including fragile glassware. However, before introducing the use of glassware, children need to have enough practice. For example, children can use plastic cups to pour water first. After children have mastered the fine skills, they can be introduced to pouring water from glass cups in a gradual manner.
A: Toddlers learn, explore and grow through trial and error. In the process, they will inevitably encounter difficulties or failures, and they are learning from their mistakes and self-correcting step by step. Parents should avoid intervening immediately to correct the child’s mistakes. Instead, they can quietly observe the child’s behavior and let him/her explore, learn and correct himself/herself in the process, and develop his/her independence, but they should intervene immediately if the child is engaging in dangerous behaviours.
A：If the child does not want to do the job after the job demonstration, the parent can ask the child to choose another job that he is interested in. Perhaps he would like to do another job at the moment, and then he would like to go back to the job he was just introduced to. We have to give children freedom and respect their choices.