I hope everyone is keeping warm through these extremely cold days. However, it is March and spring is right around the corner, hopefully with warmer temperatures. March also means it is time for conferences. Conferences are on March 12th and 13th, and the sign-up sheet is on IVolunteer.

Thinking about conferences reminded me of a question that often comes up at this time, especially regarding the younger children in the environment. “Does he/she really just cut apples/scrub tables/wash dishes all day?” The young child in the primary environment does spend a considerable amount of time on practical life activities. These activities are simple things that people do every day in order to take care of themselves. In the environment, these are set up as individual activities that the child can repeat and practice as often as he/she desires. The component parts of these activities are all real (real knives, glass bowls and pitchers, etc.), but they are child-sized.

The children are attracted to these activities because they want to participate in the world around them. They see the adults in their lives performing these activities, and thus have an inherent desire to learn and do these by themselves. They are introduced to these activities in a logical sequence of steps, so that they can be independent. After that, they can repeat the process as many times as it takes for them to feel successful and satisfied with the process. So it is quite likely that they might spend an entire morning cutting apples, carrots and any other fruits/vegetables that are available for that purpose. By the same token, once they feel satisfied with the practice of a particular skill, they no longer practice it as often, and simply move on to the next skill they want to learn.

As the child gets older, the same practical life activities take on a whole different meaning. Now they go back to these activities not with the purpose of practicing/acquiring a skill, but as a way of contributing to their environment. Now the apples they cut are part of the days snack, they scrub the table to remove the crayon markings from it and they polish the wooden objects in the classroom to make them ready for the open house or potluck. The skills they practiced as a young member in the environment made them independent and responsible older members of the community.

Even at home, being able to take on age appropriate responsibilities, allows the child to see himself/herself as a valuable member of the family. The young child can start off with simple tasks and take on more as they become more independent. For instance, a three-year-old child can put away books and toys in their proper places, place napkins and silverware on the table for dinner, take their own dishes to the kitchen after a meal, wipe up their own spills, dress themselves with some assistance and help put away some groceries. As the child gets older, they can add on more tasks like feeding the pets, folding and putting away some laundry, making their bed, picking out their own clothes, dusting furniture with a cloth or feather duster, spreading jam or butter on crackers, bread or bagels, help prepare vegetables and fruits for meals or snacks and hanging up clothes on hangers.

These are just some ideas of things that they can help with on those cold snow days!

Looking forward to seeing you at conferences….

Stay Warm.

Archana