Montessori Activity: Addition Board (加法 [jiāfǎ])

 

I learned how to make the Addition Board from Montessori Live Educator Training Program.

AGE: 4.5 to 6 years (after the child has worked with numerals and counters)

OBJECTIVE(S):

1. To teach counting and addition of the unit place value in a concrete manner.
2. To teach the definition of addend (加数 [jiā shù]): a number to be added to another (Addend + Addend = Sum) (加数加加数等于总和)

MATERIALS:

1. Homemade Addition Board using drawing block and red ribbon, red being the Montessori color for addition and making sure that your child associates the color of red with addition
2. 1 cup with glass pebbles
3. 1 set of number cards or number tiles (optional)
4. 1 set of equation cards (optional, you can also write the equation on a piece of paper)
5. 1 addition worksheet/paper, 1 pencil and eraser
6. 1 mat

PRESENTATION:

1. Lay out the materials on the table.

2. Have your child read the first equation card: “3+4=?”

3. Have your child pick the first addend 3 glass pebbles, count them and place them on the first addend position on the addition board.

4. Have your child pick the second addend pink 4 glass pebbles, count them and place them on the second addend position on the additiona board.

5. Have your child label the addends with the number cards 3 and 4 respectively.

6. Have your child move the glass pebbles to the sum position on the addition board and say, "Addend plus addend equal sum."

7. Have the child count the total number of beads: “1,2,3…7” and label it with the number 7 card.

8. Ask the child write or paste the result onto the equation and say: “3+4=7”.

9. Return the pebbles and encourage your child to try the different combinations from the worksheet.

VIDEO DEMONSTRATION:

http://youtu.be/skzjbD1mw8o
http://youtu.be/LVj1ynsJnKA

CONTROL OF ERROR:

1. Verification by the teacher.
2. Addition Control Chart.

VARIATIONS:

Other materials may be substituted for the glass pebbles such as milk carton caps, shells, buttons and so on.

For addition of ten place value, you can also use the golden beads and colored bead stairs:

29 August 2014 (5Y5M24D) - Addition of ten place value

REFERENCES:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYsNVhM9ANGcQF_wfysxeHw

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

J (5y2m15d) tried this activity this morning. It is a little too easy for him, although I think it is good practice to burn the logic of addend plus addend equal sum into his memory. We used double digits sums to make it more challenging. Here I am using Lego number blocks instead of number cards:

Counting to 200 with Measurement Tape

 

 

Age: From 5 years old

 

It can be quite mandane and boring to count from 1 to 200. So this is a fun way to teach counting to 200 without costing any money for materials. As you count, pull out the measurement tape. It also provides a sensorial experience to your child in seeing how long 200 is, based on the 200cm.

 

This is actually J's idea, so I couldn't take the credit. He took the measurement tape while we were out shopping in the DIY hardware store with Daddy and asked to use it to count to 200. He enjoyed it very much and was able to count most of it, but needed a little help with 110, 120, 130... 160, 190.

J Summary (5Y2M10D) - Took Shower On His Own for the First Time

Today was the first time I didn't have to bath J. He (5Y2M10D) took shower on his own. He had done it before at the kindergarten, when they went for swimming session. However, this was the first time at home. Happy for his growing independence and sob sob for the speed of how time flies...

As he showered, he sang in Chinese, "Mommy, I love you... mommy, I love you..." I recorded it down on video for memory.

J Summary (5y2m7d) - Assembling Furniture

Our piano bench arrived today. J helped Daddy to assemble it and he was able to do most of the work himself, with Daddy's help to hold the weight and to give a last tightening to the screws.

 

 

 

Montessori Activity: Multlplication with Bead Bars (乘法[chéngfǎ])



Decanomial Bead Bars

Time-table cards (Optional)

AGE: 5 to 6 years (after the child has worked with the Positive Snake Game, Linear and Skip Counting * to do this exercise. This exercise is the second verification of the above. (* Chains introduce child to concept of 3 sets of 3, etc.)

OBJECTIVE(S):

1. To help your child to understand the concept of multiplication in a visual and sensorial way:

- Multiplication (乘法) is adding the same number over and over again (乘法是一次又一次地添加相同的数量。)
- Multiplicand (被乘数[bèi chéng shù]) is the number that gets multiplied
- Multiplier (乘数 [chéng shù]) is the number that you are multiplying by.

MATERIALS:

1. 1 set of Decanomial Bead Bars - a box with 10 compartments containing 55 of each colored bead bars from 1-10.
2. 1 multiplication worksheet, pencil and eraser (later in presentation) or time table cards (optional)
3. 1 mat.

PRESENTATION I: SENSORIAL



 
1. Start with time table 2 (乘法表2).

2. To provide a sensorial feel of multiplication, arrange the green 2-bars horizontally from 2x1… 2x10 and say, “1 set of 2, 2 sets of 2, 3 sets of 2, 4 sets of 2… 10 sets of 2, but don’t say the answers.
(In Chinese, say "一个二，两个二，三个二，四个二… 十个二)

3. Repeat the process with another set of time table.

4. Lastly, you can place the time table card next to each set.

5. For variation: You can also arrange the green 2-bars (for timetable 2) one set at a time, adding another bar to make the next set.



12 May 2014 (5y2m7d): Adding one bar at a time

12 May 2014 (5y2m7d)
 

12 May 2014 (5y2m7d): Adding one bar at a time

PRESENTATION II: SENSORIAL - MAKING COMBINATIONS OF MULTIPLICATION

1. Place a golden 10-bar, add a green 2-bar, thus making 12 vertically on the mat.

2. Ask the child to make as many combinations as possible which will total 12.

3. Show the child that 6x2 is the same as 2x6 etc. and explain, “6 sets of 2 = 12", and "2 sets of 6 = 12." (In Chinese say, "六个二等于十二, 两个六等于十二"

4. The child should be able to make the following combinations – 2 sets of 6, 3 sets of 4, 4 sets of 3, 6 sets of 2 and 12 sets of 1.

PRESENTATION III: TABLE

1. Start with multiplication table 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. In this example, we will show 2.

2. Place a green 2-bar horizontally on the mat and say, “This is 1 set of 2 i.e. 2x1 (two times one). You have two 1 time” and count the beads “1,2”

3. For the answer, place another green 2-bar vertically under the first green 2-bar and say, “The answer is 2. 2x1=2.”

4. Place 2 green 2-bars horizontally on the mat on the right of the first 2-bar and say, “This is 2 sets of 2 i.e 2x2 (two times two). You have two 2 times” and count it “1,2,3, 4.”

5. Place a yellow 4-bar under the 2 green 2-bars and say, “The answer is 4. 2x2=4.”

6. Continue in the same manner until 2x10=20.

7. Note: There won’t be enough bead bars to do all the problems. For quantities over 10, use golden bead bars and colored bead bars.

8. When this has been completed, return to the first set of 2 and ask, "How many sets of 2 is this?" The answer will be "This is 1 set of 2", and continue to 10.

9. Next say, “2 sets of 2 equal 4.”

10. Invite the child to write the answer in the worksheet.

11. Repeat the process with another number time table.

VIDEO DEMONSTRATION:

http://youtu.be/gN-fEeeKpWM

http://youtu.be/ZerLPSyalrg

http://youtu.be/YiBwj_pJhgU

CONTROL OF ERROR:

1. Comparing the quantities of bead bars.
2. Multiplication chart.

REFERENCES:

http://www.montessorialbum.com/montessori/index.php?title=Multiplication_With_Bead_Bars
http://faculty.fullerton.edu/syen/mts/math/8-3.htm
http://www.infomontessori.com/mathematics/tables-of-arithmetic-multiplication-bead.htm

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

J (5y2m7d) tried the presentation I for the first time this evening. He was able to understand the concept and he said the number of twos gives...

Updates 26 May 2016 (7Y2M21D)

Since I returned back to full time work for the last 4 months, Montessori has taken a backseat. Today, he has no play date. My mum picked him up earlier at 3pm, so that we could do Montessori, before he went off for his music class. Thankfully, our baby was sleeping, so that we could have uninterrupted time. He chose to first write the 2 time-table by pencil. He could do it completely. Then I asked him to construct it with beads to make sure that he understood the concept. I asked him to say, 2 x 2 means 2 taken 2 times in mandarin... he wasn't so keen to say it. I also ask him to count that there are 9 bars in 2 x 9. We also did skip-counting... 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14... etc. so that he understood the concept of time table. I randomly asked him the 2 time-table, that was a little more challenging.

The Decanomial Bead Box is available from Amazon:

26 May 2016 (7Y2M21D)

 26 May 2016 (7Y2M21D): Multiplication with Bead Bars

30 May 2016 (7Y2M25D): 4-time table

Montessori Activity: Power of 2 Cube

AGE: From 3 to 3.5 years old

OBJECTIVE(S): To provide a sensorial experience of the concept of power of 2

MATERIALS:

1 Power of 2 cube

PRESENTATION:

http://www.montessorialbum.com/montessori/index.php?title=Powers_of_Two_Cube

VIDEO DEMONSTRATION:

Video explaining the concept of power of 2 for older students:

http://youtu.be/_Oub5pEIF78

REFERENCES:

http://www.montessorialbum.com/montessori/index.php?title=Powers_of_Two_Cube

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

J tried this on 5 May 2014 (5y2m).