Montessori Activity: Teen Bead Hanger

AGE: 4 years old

OBJECTIVE(S):

1.     To teach the teen numbers, counting and numeral recognition in a concrete and fun way.

2.     To train fine motor skills.

MATERIALS:

1.     1 colored short bead stair

2.     9 ten-bars

3.     1 mat

4.     1 set of number tiles from 11-19

5.     1 Teen Bead Hanger (optional)

PRESENTATION:

1. Take out the colored bead stair.

2. Take out 9 ten-bars and count one with the child: “1, 2, 3… 9.”

3. Place 9 ten-bars vertically at the top of the cloth or hang it on the teen hanger.

4. Place one-unit directly to the right of the ten-bar and say: “This is eleven.”

5. Have the child count with his index finger saying: “1, 2, 3… 11” ending with the red bead as 11.

6. Place two-units directly to the next ten-bar and say: “This is twelve.”

7. Repeat for 13 – 19.

8. Invite your child to try to create the numbers 11-13.

9. Do a Three Period Lesson for 11-13.

10. Repeat for 14-16 and 17-19.

11. Finish each Three Period Lesson with the numbers in order.

12. Discuss with the child how many of the numbers have the word “teen” in them. Review some of the numbers that have the word teen in it.

13. Tell the child that the word “teen” means there is a ten in the number.

14. Look at different examples such as seven-teen. “That means that there is a 7 and a 10.”

15. After a few examples, look at 11 and say that this however doesn’t have the word teen in it.

16. Have the child mix the bead bars and then create numbers 11-19 in order.

12. Do a Three Period Lesson.

VIDEO DEMONSTRATION:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uv4jNtTQWQ

TIPS:

Pretend that the number tiles are money – dollar notes and use it to “buy” the beads from your child. You give him 11 “dollars” and he should give you 11 beads – a ten-bar and a red bead.

CONTROL OF ERROR:

The child’s own foolproof knowledge of the numerical order from 1 to 10 will be his guide in forming the series. He needs only to become familiar with the new names and their sequence.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

It is easy to recite 11 - 20. Most children can do it, but what I like about this Montessori activity is that it helps children to understand what 11-19 really means, when they are reciting 11-19.

J (3Y8M15D) tried this on 20.11.2012. Joshua was able to do 11 – 17 without problem, and then he got tired. He wasn’t too keen to count 18 or 19 beads :-(. But when we turned it into a “buying” game – I gave him the number tiles as “money” to buy the beads, he got excited and motivated again and starting counting the beads.

REFERENCES:

http://www.infomontessori.com/mathematics/skip-and-counting-teens-quantity.htm

Brilliant Minds Montessori Maths Curriculum

Updates

8 July 2014 (5Y4M3D)

Update:

29 April 2020 (3Y11M13D): Baby FECS tried this for the first time today. It was very new to her. I am not sure how much she understood how the teens are formed, but I think she got a feel of it. She was very thrilled to hang the beads no the hanger. I hope to repeat this activity with her again.