The Infant Environment

The Bedroom

While a traditional crib generally prevents your infant from leaving his bed, a Montessori floor bed allows your infant to enter and leave his bed without your assistance. When your infant is able to leave his bed independently he can explore and develop in a safe environment. When planning the décor of the room, sit at your infant’s level to see what he sees. Use the beauty of the world outside to stimulate your infant’s mind. As your infant begins to make choices about food and toys, also allow him to choose clothing to wear. Place appropriate choices in baskets on low shelves for him to access.

The Bathroom

Make the bathroom a part of your infant’s diaper changing routine as soon as possible.

If you have room, place a diaper-changing mat on the bathroom floor instead of using a changing table in his bedroom. When your infant is able to stand securely, change him standing up. Allow him to undress independently as much as possible to prepare for when he will use the toilet on his own. Make sure to help wash his hands just as you would wash your own hands after each diaper change or toilet use.

The Kitchen

Nutrition begins at conception. You make sure to eat healthy while you are pregnant to keep your infant healthy. Continue this once your infant is born. A food processor, food mill, or blender will allow you to feed your infant the same food you eat once he starts eating around six months. Your infant will also begin sitting around this time. Have a small chair and table in your kitchen or dining area for him to eat at. A small spoon, bowl, glass, and placemat will help him learn to feed himself.

The Living Room

The television should be off whenever the infant is in the room. Several studies on brain development speak to how harmful the television can be on your infant’s developing mind. A small shelf with only a few toys on it will allow your infant to explore and experiment without becoming overwhelmed. Although walkers, play pens, and swings may seem convenient and entertaining, imagine how frustrated you would feel without the opportunity to move freely throughout your environment. As your infant is able to explore he will learn to crawl, pull up, push around and walk behind both concrete objects, such as furniture, and push toys that allow greater movement.

The Outdoors

Bringing your infant outdoors even before he is mobile can be a great learning experience for him. Keep an absorbent blanket handy to take outside and lay on the grass under a tree. The tree can be a natural mobile. As your infant grows and begins to explore the outdoor environment make sure to think of safety by putting locked fences around pools or other bodies of water and making sure he does not ingest poisonous plants. Fun activities for your infant outside can include dishpans of water to splash around in, walking around on the grass, mulch, pavement, and other surfaces barefoot to feel texture, or even bringing the outdoors in with a bucket full of snow to explore.

What is practical life?

Practical life is an area of the environment set up with necessary works of daily life: hand transferring, pouring, squeezing, spooning, rolling and folding, stringing, twisting, pounding, sweeping, scrubbing, polishing, washing dishes, setting table, care of plants and animals, also food preparation along with courtesy and grace. When a child develops order, concentration, coordination and independence through the mastery of the practical life work in the environment, he or she will use these skills through out the other academic areas in the environment.

Why do we do practical life?

To aid the child in developing the skills he or she needs to become self-sufficient. Practical life is a very important part of the curriculum. To assist in the development of the child we keep the following aims in mind when setting up the environment: Order, Concentration, Coordination and Independence.

What are the five basic practical life areas of the Infant Classroom?

1. Physical Skills

• Spooning, hand transfer, squeezing, rolling, folding, twisting, stringing, pounding, and pouring with and without handles and spouts

2. Care of environment

• Sweeping, dusting, scrubbing, polishing, table setting, daily chores, care of plants and animals, outside environment

3. Care of self

• Hand washing, dressing frames, scrubbing, combing a wig, bathroom, dress-up

4. Grace and Courtesy

• This is where we reinforce a positive attitude and help children learn respect. This is vital in order to build a classroom community.

5. Nutrition and food

• Slice wooden fruit and vegetables, slice real fruit and vegetables, spreading

Activities

• Folding clothes and putting them away

• Setting the table-let the child help with the silverware, dishes, folding napkins

• Clearing the table- let the child help with the items that are lighter and not dangerous

• Drying dishes and silverware after washing

• Child size cleaning tools- broom, mop, duster, dustpan, brush, sponge

• Plants at his level- to water and take care of

• Making their own bed

• Cleaning windows with a sponge and towel

• Shelves or cabinets organized for certain toys, books, puzzles, dolls or trucks

• Cloths on a shelf that the child can reach- let them choose their own clothes and put them away

• Clothes he or she can get on and off by themselves- large buttons, elastic waist bands

• Wash hand, face, brush teeth on their own- place a stool to give them a lift to reach the faucet

• Wash clothes, towels, toothbrush, hairbrush all within reach so they can take care of themselves

• A mirror low enough for the child to check for cleanliness in appearance

• Answering the phone- teaching them proper phone manners

• Simple food preparation- let the child assist with mixing, stirring, slicing

• Low shelf in the refrigerator for the child to get their own snack