The Abacus: formation of a number
How this activity is presented
The directress begins the activity by reminding the child of the different quantities of the beads on the abacus. The directress then tells the child that they will be forming numbers on the abacus. She asks the child to make a number, for example, 5 units. The child then pushes the beads back to the left-hand side once he has made the number.
The directress then asks the child to make another number, for example, 2 tens and 3 units. She gradually moves onto more difficult numbers for him to make, for example, 2 thousands, 3 hundreds, 4 tens, and 5 units. The directress gives the child a lot of practice in forming numbers with the abacus. She can also make numbers herself and ask the child to say what they are.
This is a wonderful testing game for the directress to see where the child is at.
The Abacus: formation of a number
Looking for more Montessori activities?
Here is a list of all the Montessori Maths activities including Early Maths, Introduction to the Decimal System, Seguin Boards, The Hundred Board, The Short Bead Stair, Bead Chains, The Snake Game, Group Operations, The Large Number Rods, Recording with the Small Number Rods, The Short Bead Stair, The Strip Boards, The Boards, The Stamp Game, The Abacus, The Dot Game, and Fractions. Just click on the page you want to learn about to go there.
Early Maths
Introduction to the Decimal System
The Short Bead Stair
Seguin Boards
The Hundred Board
Bead Chains
The Snake Game
Group Operations
Large Number Rods
Recording with the Small Number Rods
The Short Bead Stair
The Strip Boards
The Boards
The Stamp Game
The Abacus
Operations with the Abacus: Static addition (without change)
Operations with the Abacus: Static multiplication (without change)
Operations with the Abacus: Static subtraction (without change)