Activities and Presentations

NAMC early childhood curriculummanuals contain activitiesdesigned to help children develop

skills in a number of areas, from practicallife, to math, to science. Activities are thetasks that the child works on to further hislearning and development. Presentationsare the step-by-step demonstrations of theactivities that the teacher gives the child.

ActivitiesAn activity can be defined as the work achild completes using specific materials forthe purpose of furthering his learning anddevelopment. Sometimes, the purpose ofthe activity is apparent to the child, such aslearning to add with the Golden BeadMaterial or understanding what a noun is byworking with the Miniature Environment, butoften the activity has a purpose of whichthe child is unaware. For instance, when thechild works with the Cylinder Blocks, heperceives that the activity’s purpose is toplace cylinders in their matching holes.While his understanding is correct, theactivity also has greater aims related to thechild’s overall learning and development.The direct aim of the Cylinder Blocks is tohelp the child develop visual discriminationof diameter and/or height and its indirect

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ResourcesThere are many resources onplaygrounds. Here are a fewexamples:

� Galindo, Michelle. PlaygroundDesign. Salenstein, Switzerland:Braun Publishing, 2012.

� Hendricks, Barbara E. Designingfor Play, 2nd ed. Burlington, VT:Ashgate Publishing Company,2011.

� Laumann, Silken. Child’s Play:Rediscovering the Joy of Play inOur Families and Communities.Toronto, ON: Vintage Canada,2007.

� Sunset Magazine. Sunset OutdoorDesign & Build Guide: Backyardsfor Kids: Fresh Ideas for OutdoorLiving. Birmingham, AL: OxmoorHouse, 2012.

� Tai, Lolly, Mary Haque, GinaMcLellan, and Erin Knight.Designing Outdoor Environmentsfor Children: Landscaping SchoolYards, Gardens and Playgrounds.New York, NY: McGraw-HillProfessional, 2006.

� Accessible Play Spaces. RickHansen Foundation:www.rickhansen.com/language/en-CA/What-We-Do/School-Program/Accessible-Play-Spaces.aspx

� Peaceful Playgrounds:www.peacefulplaygrounds.com

“The instructions of the teacher consistthen merely in a hint, a touch —enough to give a start to the child.” — Maria Montessori. Dr. Montessori’sOwn Handbook. New York, NY:Schocken Books, 1965 (first published1914), p. 58.

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aims are to develop the child’s fine motormovements and to lay the foundation for hisunderstanding of mathematical concepts. Itis unnecessary for the child to understandthese direct and indirect aims; it is enoughthat he is engaged in the activity and finds itenjoyable. The Montessori teacher, however,needs to be aware of each activity’s aims soshe knows which skills the child isdeveloping and what activities will benefithim most.

In the Montessori environment, each activityencompasses a full cycle of work. A workcycle is the time that the child concentrateson a single task from start to finish. Thisinvolves selecting and readying a workspace, either on the floor with a work mat orat a table, often with a vinyl mat; taking thematerial from the shelf and carrying it to thework space; working on the activity throughspecified steps; and returning the materialto the shelf, cleaning the work space ifnecessary. Experiencing a full work cycle isimportant to the child’s developmentalprocess and builds her ability to concentratefor an extended period of time. Once the

child has completed a full work cycle, shefeels an immense level of satisfaction.

Children work on Montessori activities in anappropriate order of difficulty, graduallybuilding on previously learned skills witheach new activity. For example, childrenlearn to pour with dry materials before theyare introduced to pouring liquids, and theywork with the sensorial Binomial Cubebefore working with the Trinomial Cube. Asmuch as possible, the child also works withthe “whole” before the “parts.” For instance,in geography, the child works on theSandpaper Globe activity before activitiesinvolving the continents, such as the PuzzleMap activities, or countries, such as thegeography folders activity.

It may take several repetitions for the childto master every part of an activity. However,because the child is interested in the taskand is repeatedly choosing to work with it,

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NAMC ActivitiesSome Montessori programs use theterm “lesson plans,” but in NAMCpublications they are called activitiesin order to emphasize two importantgoals:

� The activity focuses on the childand the materials.

� The teacher takes on the role ofsomeone who inspires,demonstrates, and facilitates.

Carrying the material to the table or mat is part of thework cycle

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she will eventually master the skillsinvolved. The materials remain easilyaccessible on the shelf so the children whoare working with that activity may continueto do so independently and as often as theylike. Materials for a particular activity mayremain on the shelf for 2–3 months orlonger.

ExtensionsOnce a child has acquired experience andpractice working with an activity, theteacher may make changes to the work tomaintain the child’s interest and add somechallenge. In the Montessori environment,modifying the activity in this way is calledan extension. Extensions refer to relatedactivities that increase the complexity,range, or application of an activity that hasbeen presented. For example, after Talli hasworked with the sensorial Mystery Bagrepeatedly, identifying objects using herstereognostic sense, the teacher mayreplace the objects with pairs of identicalobjects. She then invites Talli to work withthe Mystery Bag again, this time to identifythe new objects and find their pairs. Inmath, Dalvir has been working with theNumber Rods and is ready for morechallenging work. As an extension, theteacher invites Dalvir to play the “bring me”game, asking Dalvir to find specific NumberRods and carry them to her. This extensiongives Dalvir additional practice with thematerial and adds more movement to thework. It also allows the teacher to assessDalvir’s knowledge of the quantities 1–10.After the teacher presents the botanyactivity introducing the parts of the plant toa group of children, the children will workwith the plant and build their knowledge ofits parts. To extend this activity, the teachermay invite the children to create their own

booklets, illustrating and labeling the partsof the plant, and work with the BotanyPuzzle for the plant. When the children haveworked on the concept for some time, theteacher will also present the NomenclatureCards for the parts of the plant to eachchild individually, as they are ready toreceive the presentation.

PresentationsIn the Montessori environment, the child isinvited to work with an activity only after hehas received a presentation from theteacher. A presentation is a step-by-stepdemonstration of the activity that theteacher gives to the child. The presentationis given to ensure that the child learns howto work with the material and sees the stepsrequired to successfully complete theactivity. The teacher presents activities tothe child when she feels that he is ready toreceive them, which she determines throughcareful observation. She makes note of

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The Montessori teacher provides the child with a step-by-step demonstration of the activity

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things such as the level of stimulation thechild needs, his ability to concentrate, andhis particular interests. Often, the teacherwill recognize when a child is ready to workon an activity because he is focused onwatching other children using the material,or he may express interest directly and askthe teacher to show him the material. Whena child asks about working on a newactivity, the teacher acknowledges hisenthusiasm with encouraging words andgives him a clear idea about when apresentation will be possible. If a child asksto work on an activity that is too advanced,the teacher sensitively explains that thereare other presentations that he needs toreceive first and offers to present one ofthese to him as soon as possible.

In addition to determining if the child isready for a presentation, the teacher mustconsider her own preparedness. For apresentation to be effective, the teacher has

to make certain that she has a fullunderstanding of the material and iscomfortable with the presentation. The bestway to present confidently is throughrepeated practice of the activity. Bypreparing ahead of time and rehearsing thepresentation, the teacher is able to presentthe activity successfully in a positive,enthusiastic manner that will spark thechild’s interest in the activity.

Inviting the ChildThe teacher always begins a presentationby inviting the child to the activity. Sheissues this invitation as pleasantly andrespectfully as she would invite a guest toher home and takes care to smile at thechild, showing that the opportunity for apresentation is pleasant for both of them.She invites the child to join her at the shelfwhere the material is kept, so the child cansee the material and know where it is whenhe is ready to work on the activityindependently.

The manner in which the teacher introducesthe activity differs depending on the subjectof the presentation. For instance, wheninviting a child to participate in a practicallife presentation, the teacher names theactivity, such as peeling a carrot, to makethe child aware of the activity’s purpose.During sensorial presentations, however, theteacher does not identify the purpose of theactivity but names the material instead,allowing the child to discover the purposeas he works with the material.

After introducing the child to the material,the teacher shows him how to carry thematerial to the work space. Shedemonstrates how to hold the material,usually using both hands, and carries it with

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The teacher demonstrates how to carry the material tothe work space

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