How to Use Montessori Methods to Teach Good Grooming

Children as young as two or three can learn to wash hands and face as well as comb their own hair.

Montessori teaching methods are based around the idea that children learn best when they have control over what and how they learn. This creates an exploratory environment that enables students to learn in a variety of ways that will prepare them for later lives of independence and creativity. In montessori preschools and elementary schools, children not only learn letters and numbers, but also "practical life" lessons that teach them to groom themselves, keep their living and working areas clean and to contribute to household chores. Even if your child is not enrolled in a montessori school, you can use montessori methods to instill a sense of responsibility for proper grooming habits in your little one.

Things You'll Need

• Tissues
• Wash cloth
• Soap for sensitive skin
• Hairbrush
• Wall mounted mirror

Instructions

1. Explain what you are doing before the grooming activity starts. This will help the child understand how to do an activity completely on their own. For example, if you are teaching a child to wash their face, do not warm the water and wet the washcloth yourself without any explanation. If you do so, then the child will learn only how to scrub their face and will still rely on someone else to get everything ready. As you are turning on the water and wetting the cloth, describe your actions.

2. Allow the child to mimic your actions. Once you have explained what to do, allow the child to copy your movements. If you have two sinks, this will work well for teaching hand and face washing as well as tooth brushing. You should also each have a hair brush so that the child can copy your movements in the mirror. For example, if you are teaching hair brushing then you will first describe your own actions, then invite the child to mimic them. Continue to repeat the action as the child imitates your movements.

3. Speak positively about cleaning responsibilities. Children learn from the attitudes of the adults around them. A young child who has never heard anything negative about cleaning up the bathroom is not likely to object to wringing out his own washcloth and hanging up his towel after a bath. You should always describe the benefits of your actions rather than acting like they are a chore. For example, after wiping down the walls from your shower and hanging up the towel, say, "It is so nice to have a nice, neat bathroom to use."

4. Perform entire tasks as a unit. For example, blowing your nose does not only include the actual nose-blowing, it also includes throwing the tissue away and washing your hands. Do not pause in between these steps when you are demonstrating them to your child, and when you blow your own nose make sure that you are also consistent. This way, your child will view nose-blowing as a set of steps rather than an isolated act, which will lead her to much cleaner habits than if she does not associate trash disposal and hand washing with nose-blowing.

5. Monitor your child's progress discreetly. Once a child understands how to perform various grooming tasks, do not make it obvious that you are checking up on them. You will need to make sure, for example, that a child actually soaps his entire body during a bath, but try to do so in a subtle way so that he does not feel that he is being viewed critically or monitored. This will help him develop good habits that will persist whether he is supervised or not.

Tips & Warnings

• When teaching these various grooming procedures, children may enjoy additional information in the lessons. For example, when you are teaching how to brush teeth, they might like learning the names of the teeth or looking at a diagram of their mouth. Then, you can use the diagram to help them insure that they have brushed every tooth.

• If your faucets provide scalding hot water, you may not want to teach your child to wet their own cloth or run their own bath water until they are older. If this is the case, then just start the lesson where you want the child to start and do not indicate that running their own water is even an option.