Friday, January 22, 2021

Montessori Practical Life: Care of Plants

Taking Care of Your Environment, Inside and Out

Caring for the Plants Around the House or Classroom

It's natural for children to want to do real work:  polishing shoes, cutting and arranging flowers, folding napkins, peeling potatoes, sewing on a button, .... the list goes on and on.  These are all things a young child is likely to see older people (older children and adults) doing.  In order to take part in the same work a young child has to first master the simpler components of these jobs.  For instance, a child has to practice pouring in order to pour his own milk and prepare his cereal at breakfast.  Or a child needs to be able to walk while carrying a tray if she is to be able to carry a food prep work from the shelf to a table.

This work, Care of Plants, is no different.  Many of us have indoor plants at home or in the classroom (Aldi's has a great selection!), and they need regular care.  In this first video, I demonstrate how to check the soil to see if the plant needs to be watered and then I trim off and remove dead leaves.


In this second video I demonstrate how to use a cotton ball to wipe dust off of the leaves.  Then I mist the plants leaves with water.


It would be easy for this work to lead into a simple science lesson, but it also important on its own.  Please be careful:  some plants are toxic to children and to pets!

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