Monday, July 25, 2011

Montessori Musings: Math

I've been taking Karen Tyler's wonderful on-line Montessori course since January. Although I don't get to study nearly as often or as long as I would like, I am still learning some valuable things that I am able to use with both of my children.  Seit Januar mache ich eine Montessori Ausbilding im Internet bei Karen Tyler. Obwohl ich mir mehr Zeit zum Lernen wünschte, trotzdem erfahre ich sehr viel, das ich bei den eigenen Kindern und im Klassenzimmer umsetzen kann. 

When I was in the States over Easter, I purchased some materials from Alison's Montessori and Kid Advance that I have been pleased with:  a wooden Base 10 set, trinomial cube, division board. (Wooden Montessori materials are still much more affordable in the States than in Europe.) Während ich in den Staaten über die Osterferien war, habe ich neues Montessori Material gekauft: 121-teiligen mathematischen Würfel, trinomischen Würfel, Divisionsbrett. (Leider sind solche Dinge viel teurer in Europa.)

I love the holistic approach to mathematics in Montessori in that the children learn the three-dimensional practicalities behind the abstract concepts introduced. They learn literally what a "thousand" or a "hundred" feels like by seeing and touching it.  Der ganzheitliche Ansatz zur Mathematik in der Montessori Pädagogik gefällt mir sehr.  Die Kinder erfahren die abstrakten Konzepten auf eine konkrete Art und Weise.  Sie wissen wie "ein tausend" oder "ein hundert" sich fühlt, weil sie es sehen und tasten können. 

Below my daughter is using the wooden Base 10 set to match quantities with the teen numerals. Unten lernt meine Tochter die Mengen von 10-19 mit den Zahlen einzuordnen. 


A game that I learned from Karen's material is to blindfold the child and have her find a particular quantity. We started by finding one unit, then ten units, then 100, and finally 1000.  Afterwards, I had her find uneven numbers like "17" of something. Im Karens Unterricht habe ich ein Spiel mit dem mathematischen Würfelmaterial gelernt:  die Augen des Kindes werden verbunden und man bittet es "1", "10","100", oder "1.000" zu finden. Danach musste sie ungerade Mengen wie "17" finden. 


We have also been working on simple addition with the table number rods that I purchased here in Germany from E-bay. She enjoys this and sometimes the number rods turn into a house for the fairies.  But hey, why not? Wir haben auch mit numerischen Stangen, die ich in Deutschland bei Ebay gekauft habe, gearbeitet um mit Addition anzufangen. Und manchmal werden die Stangen zum Haus für die Feen werden. Aber warum nicht?


Linked to Montessori Monday at One Hook Wonder

10 comments:

  1. We use Cuisenaire rods here--the girls seem to love them or feel disinterest for them, depending on their mood, but I agree that they're a fabulous tool for internalizing math concepts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Julie, Thanks for sharing what you and your girls do. Your blog looks interesting as well - I will definitely check it out!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh yes, our rods at home turn into race tracks or fairy houses. It's fine with me (and I teach Montessori for my career) as long as they are respectful.

    Cute blog!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello it's Valarie from Jump Into A book. what a wonderful site you have here. I'm a huge fan of Maria Montessori and her work. I wish I was taught this gentle way to do math. Thanks for sharing so many wonderful links. It's also great to read the German. I studied German in college and lived in Austria for four years. Love your site and I'll be back to visit. Be well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the blindfolded math work! I always thought the Montessori math materials were brilliant! And I agree with you and Jessie from the Education of Ours. In a homeschool, the materials do tend to get used in a number of ways. It was always fine with me, too, as long as they were used respectfully. Deb @ LivingMontessoriNow.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the fairy houses :). The blindfold is such a neat idea, I might have to try that! We have a set of plastic base ten blocks that we got for free, but I have to say that your wooden ones look so pretty. Oh well :). I am hoping one of these days to try Karen's courses. Maybe!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. @ Deb and The Education of Ours - I'm so glad to know that the two of you have had similar experiences!

    @ Our Country Road - The most important thing is that they learn.:) your kids probably won't remember if they were plastic or wood in the years to come. I just found out that you also write about Godly Play. I look forward to reading your posts and I will add you to the directory that I have put together of resources on the web.

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Valarie - Thank you! I have so enjoyed reading your blog the past few days as well. So fun that you speak German!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm taking Karen's course as well - isn't it wonderful? I'm glad your daughter is enjoying her math materials. Thanks for linking to Montessori Monday! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Nicole, That's great that you are taking Karen's classes as well! And thanks for hosting Montessori Monday. It is such a great way to link us together and share great ideas!

    ReplyDelete