I have met many of you since I started at the Salon of Chi back in October last year and I have come to really enjoy not only being your first point of contact on your journey through the Salon but also, of course, seeing you look wonderful as you leave. 

 

As you all know, Nicole has created a very supportive and nurturing environment, full of positive energy, where team members are encouraged to be the best possible versions of themselves every day and where every guest in the Salon is valued and looked after holistically. So, it is with this vibe in mind that I am reminded of my time in the Montessori classroom where I spent the best part of the last 10 years working with two to five-year-old children.  I thought it might be an idea to blog my way around the Montessori classroom with you and see if we can introduce some of her philosophies and activities into our own daily lives in the hope that our inner child might remind us to see and do things a little differently. 

 

There are five key learning areas in the Montessori classroom - Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics and Cultural.  In this blog, it’s all about Practical Life.  This is usually the first area a child is introduced to when they join the classroom as many of the life skills activities on offer will be already familiar to them and this helps them to settle.  The work children do in this area helps develop independence, coordination, concentration, self-control, self-awareness and confidence, with activities based around the following: Care of Self (food preparation, dressing, washing); Care of Environment (cleaning, gardening, care of pets, environmentalism); Grace and Courtesy (greetings, manners, social interactions); and Control of Movement (refining movements, walking the line, moving quietly). 

 

Now, I am assuming that you will already have a good handle on how to put your jacket on properly, tie your shoelaces and make a sandwich so for now, let’s look at Care of the Environment.  As mentioned, this area covers cleaning, gardening, caring for pets and environmentalism.  I’m sure many of you, like me, have done a fair amount of tidying and clearing over the last two weeks and if you’ve got pets, they’ve probably never had so much care and attention!  If you’ve got a garden, you’ll be turning your mind to it now and spending time there – cleaning equipment, tidying out sheds, planting and weeding.   

A lovely quote from Maria Montessori is: “When children come into contact with nature, they reveal their strength” and it is true that nature has the ability to calm us and to reconnect us to the earth and the environment.  When next out on your hour’s walk, especially if it’s a route you often take, take some time to really look at what you’re seeing.  What have you never noticed before?  Small children live in the moment, they notice the small things that often get overlooked in adulthood.  They see the small ant scurrying into a crack in the pavement or the tiniest flower peeking out from behind a stone.  Their attention in that moment is fixed on that and that only. So, whatever it is you’re doing today, remind yourself that you’re doing it and really feel yourself experiencing it.  

 

Enjoy life in that moment.  

 

Till next time, 

Gillian x