Work Areas in Montessori Schools

Video Transcript

"Now I'm going to show you how to present the rug. Show the children how to grab the rug carefully and hold it close. We call it hugging the rug. Take it to your area, lay it down, show them how to smooth it out nice and neatly. And that is how you get out a rug. The main purpose with this is so that the children have a specific work area that is their own. They determine what activities they put on the rug, and of course they're responsible for cleaning it up. So if a child comes and they want to play with them, they have to ask the child that got the activity out permission. They almost always say yes but sometimes they don't. And that gives the children a little bit of control so that they can say "I just want to be by myself for a minute." And that's okay, and it prevents a lot of the children from getting frustrated with other kids taking their things. So this is how you roll the rug up. You sit at the end. You tell them to use little fingers, little pinches, you go up and down and roll. When the rug gets away from you, pull it to you. And again. Leave the rug on the floor, stand up, then get the rug, hug the rug again, and put it away."