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Understading the Math Environment Series: Part 1June 15, 2008 by Miss Norma | No comments

Math is a crucial part of a Montessori classroom because children have a natural interest in numbers and counting. Children will innately go to the math area without even being invited for a lesson. Children usually have some previous knowledge of numbers before going to school because numbers are a part of their daily life. Addresses, clocks, streets, and their ages help them experience numbers daily. This is why they need to learn about Math. Most likely they will know how to count up to three but rarely will they know what the quantity three is. As we go through our daily routines in the classroom, I help the children to keep their growing knowledge of numerals alive; counting how many cookies they are having for snack, counting how many friends are in the classroom, when coming in from recess counting to make sure all our friends are in line, etc. The Math area is what gives them the knowledge of the symbols and their names and helps develop their mathematical minds. “In our work, therefore, we have given a name to this part of the mind which is built up with exactitude and we call it the mathematical mind” (Montessori, 1967, 185). At this age children have an absorbent mind and this allows them to learn about things by internalizing them. They also are experiencing Sensitive Periods and this might help the child learn things easier if one goes by their particular interest, which can be any of the following: order, small things or details, movement, beauty and language. This depends on how old the child is. The Sensitive Periods will play a huge role in what the child will show interest in the Math area. “That the mathematical mind is active from the first, becomes apparent not only from the attraction that exactitude exerts on every action the child performs, but we see it also in the fact that the little child’s need for order is one of the most powerful incentives to dominate his early life” (Montessori, 1967, 189,190).

The sequence for the math curriculum begins with 0-10 Activities (2 ½ - 4 yrs old) and then one may begin with Linear Counting (4 – 7 yrs old), the Decimal System (4 - 5 yrs old) or Addition (4-5 yrs old). It does not matter which way you as long as you follow the child’s interest. Once the child has a base, the 0-10 Activities, the child can move on to any of these areas. All three areas reinforce counting and help the child develop their knowledge of higher numbers. The 0-10 Activities start with the Red and Blue Rods, because you must first start with the concrete (or quantity) before you move on to the abstract (symbols). After that, you move on to Sandpaper Numerals. Eventually the child will be working in more than one of theses areas at a time because they interrelate. After Linear Counting, the Decimal System and Addition the child moves on to Multiplication (5 yrs old and up), Subtraction (4 – 6 yrs old), Division (5 yrs old and up) and lastly Abstraction (5 yrs old and up).

As mentioned above, what I try to follow when I am guiding a child through the math curriculum is the concrete to abstract rule of thumb and their interest in the math materials. It is very important to go with what the child knows and with what he will be successful. When I guide a child in choosing an activity I make sure they are ready for it by observing what he has been working with and how he is using it. This will let me know where the child is and what he might be able to work with next. When working with the child I always use language that is familiar to him/her. For concrete, numbers and quantities I say “this is” and for the abstract, numerals and symbols I say “this says.” I also try to do a lot of repetition so that the child can grasp the concept. For example, when giving a lesson on the sandpaper numerals I try to have the child trace the number two or three times and then if they are ready I have them write in the sand tray. When counting the spindles I make sure they count into their hands and then count again into the box. “The Teacher, …., must have a kind of faith that the child will reveal himself through work” (Montessori, 1967, 276).