Sunday 10 July 2011

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Teaching Practical Life Skills to Toddlers & Preschoolers through Montessori Self-Service Stations


Joshua is growing up so fast and everyday he can do more and more things for himself. I started Montessori Practical Life activities (pouring, screwing and unscrewing lids, etc.) when he was two years old. It has been a few months now, and he is slowly mastering the practical life skills and getting familiarized with the functions and concepts. Time to for me to stop serving the Little Emperor, and focus more on the Big Emperor (I mean Florian) :-)

He is also entering a sensitive period, whereby the child wants to copy and mimic adults such as parents. Thus, I think it is a good time now to go on to the next stage of setting up kid’s friendly Self-Service Stations for him.

What’s a Self-Service Station?

Basically Self-Service Stations provide an efficient and effective means to allow your child to help himself with the daily routine tasks. A well-designed Self-Service Station thus provides a conducive environment that allows your child to copy and imitate your tasks using kid’s friendly set up (think low and horizontal) and aids your child in his growth towards independence.

It is not difficult at all to design a Self-Service Station. The key here is to keep it simple. You don’t need to have a big room in order to accommodate these Self-Service Stations. You can place them in different locations in the home. With a bit of creativity, you could squeeze in one in a little space or a corner of the kitchen, the toilet, the entrance, etc.

Here is a list of sample design of Self-Service Stations you may like to include in your home:

1. Self-Service Work Station
2. Self-Service Drinking-Water Station
3. Self-Service Snack Bar
4. Self-Service Pantry Station
5. Self-Service Closet Station
6. Self-Service Entrance Station
7. Self-Service Washroom Station
8. Self-Service Cleaning Station

It takes a little effort, planning and thinking to set up the Self-Service Stations, but in the long run, once your preschooler mastered the skills and become very good at these tasks, it would be less work for you, as you do not have to serve him or clean up after him.

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