Mathematics

Building on the discrimination of size and quantity of the Sensorial materials, and based on the concept of ten, Dr. Montessori created new math materials to show the child the nature of quantity in various forms: rods, spindles, counters, strips of wood, and beads, but organizing these materials into natural groups: unit family, linear counting and the four math operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. She provided an approach to a variety of mathematical concepts through many interesting concrete materials, such as the golden bead decimal materials, from which the child “flies to abstract” understanding. Montessori’s math materials are still modern and comprehensive. What the child builds in his brain is the very essence of what quantity is and how it grows in a regular, quantitative pattern.