The Practical Life curriculum provides the child with the opportunity to learn care of his environment, care of himself, grace and courtesy and control of movement. Practical Life provides “real things”, such as child sized brooms, utensils, containers, scissors and trays for the child to handle, rather than toys. Children want to do what they see adults doing.

The purpose of Practical Life materials is to develop coordination, concentration, order and independence. Coordination is improved and developed through activities such as pouring, spooning, buttoning, cutting and sweeping, which exercise the finger and hand muscles and therefore develop fine motor skills. These same motor skills will be necessary when using writing implements.

Concentration is also developed through the use of Practical Life materials. The classroom is prepared attractively with developmentally appropriate materials that “call” to the child. When the child’s interest in the materials is very high, it leads to greater concentraton and increased attention span.

One of the aims of childhood is independence. A common statement made by the 3 to 6 year old is, “I can do it myself.” Practical Life materials contain numerous activities, which have a built in “control of error”, that is, they are self correcting. The entire classroom is child sized so the child can work independently.

Children between the ages of 3 and 6 are very sensitive to order. Everything in the classroom has an exact place. The materials are color coded so the child can easily return them to the shelf. Materials are set up in a definite order from easiest to most difficult. They are placed on shelves from left to right, top to bottom in preparation for reading, which follows the same pattern.

The Practical Life materials, because they develop concentration, coordination, independence and order, lay the foundation for all the other areas of the classroom.