How to Use Montessori Golden Beads to Present the Decimal System
The montessori golden beads are a wonderful math teaching tool. These beads, which are arranged in unit beads (one bead each), ten bars (ten beads on a wire), hundred squares (ten ten bars in a square) and thousand cubes (ten hundred squares stacked) help children as young as four pair quantities with numerals and begin to understand the decimal system. By performing this lesson, a child will begin to see how numbers in the decimal system are laid out and will be able to start comparing quantities to each other.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- 45 golden bead units
- 45 ten bars
- 45 hundred squares
- 1 thousand cube
- Set of large number cards to 1000
- Large green felt mat
Instructions
-
-
1
Sit side by side with the child in front of the mat. You should have the number cards, and the golden beads should be in easy reach for both of you. The space in front of you should be clear.
-
2
Place the 1 number card in the upper right corner of the mat. You are going to need the whole mat for this exercise, so make sure that you leave yourself plenty of room to work.
-
-
3
Have the student identify the numeral on the card (one) and place the correct number of beads beside the card (one). If the student wishes, he can repeat the number as he works.
-
4
Continue to do this with the number cards 1 through 9. As the student lines up the beads, have her do so in a vertical fashion so that the line begins to resember a ten bar.
-
5
Place the 10 card even with the 1 card and its bead on the mat. You will do this for 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 as well.
-
6
Instruct the student to use the golden beads to assemble the numbers that match the cards that you have laid out. For example, the 20 will get two ten bars next to it. At this point, you will have a column of unit values (1 through 9) and a column of tens values (10 through 90). Have the student arrange the bars side by side so that they can see the hundred square being assembled.
-
7
Place the hundreds cards next to the tens cards and their beads on the mats while instructing the student to build the proper number using the hundred squares. You will do this for 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800 and 900. The hundred squares should be stacked so that they progressively form a cube.
-
8
Finish by placing the 1000 number card to the left of the hundred card and its beads while the student places the thousand cube next to the card. At this point, the student should be able to see that she has "built" numbers up to 1000.
-
9
Encourage the child to do this exercise as often as he likes. He can do the entire exercise, including laying out the cards and assigning the beads, on his own after the first time through. Watch to make sure he does not experience any serious difficulty, but let him handle the lesson independently if at all possible. As long as the child only has the prescribed number of golden beads to work with, then he can self-correct his work because the numbers should work out to need exactly as many golden beads as he has.
-
1
Resources
- Photo Credit http://www.mecssoftware.com/images/beads11a.gif
