"The child has a mind able to absorb knowledge. He has the power to teach himself."-Maria Montessori
Imagine your child practicing concepts such as multiplication, division, and fractions in early elementary.
This would be the norm in a Montessori classroom, with a focus on hands-on materials to reinforce these concepts.
This would be the norm in a Montessori classroom, with a focus on hands-on materials to reinforce these concepts.
Puzzles
Shadow Cards
“Shadows” matching activity: While this may not seem like a mathematical activity, matching is actually part of the classification realm in math. This translates to concepts like recognizing quantity and numeral, characteristics of like-shapes, and more. S had to match the shadow to the animal based on its shape, which most have a similar shape posing a greater challenge. These animals came from a puzzle, allowing for versatility of use! |
Homemade Puzzles
S worked on some animal puzzles made from calendar/magazine cut-outs. Utilizing images from resources like these expand topics you can introduce to your child, help recycling efforts, and allow you to scaffold difficulty for your child. Puzzles are a great math tool because they sharpen reasoning and problem-solving skills that children and adult will need to use to make decisions each and every day. |
Interlocking Egg Shape Puzzles
S loves these egg shape puzzles. I just pop off the tops, place them in a basket, and off she goes. We’ve learned the name of so many shapes just through this one toy. |
Shapes
Language Cards
Language cards are a versatile tool that can be used with children as young as 9 months! Here we used the cards to match in a book we were reading. You can also to sorting activities, matching, and more. |
Knobbed Cylinders (mini series)
Knobbed cylinders are a great sensory tool that help with discrimination of size. Knobbed cylinders come in a set of 4. Each block has cylinders that vary in length, width, and height. Little ones have to visually discriminate which cylinder goes where and with the self-correcting element they are able to correct their mistakes. |
Quantity and Symb0ls
One-to-One Counting
A real-life applicable approach to counting. We worked on “touch counting” or one-to-one correspondence by counting the dots on the die, then counting the treats to feed the "pup." (Rec: 2.5+yrs) |
Quantity vs. Symbol
I want to note, this activity is designed for the child that understands quantity first and is learning the symbol that represents that quantity. Montessori philosophy expresses the importance of learning it in this order. |
Number Tracing
Once a child has learned quantity, the goal is to have them learn the symbol that represents that quantity. In Montessori this can look like, sandpaper numbers, sand trays, and activities like the one pictured above. |
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