Montessori Basics: How Math Progresses Through the Levels
You know your child loves their classroom and their work. You know their teachers are guiding them to learn early math skills. But what, exactly, does that look like? And how does it change as they get older? Montessori math materials are nothing short of amazing. While they look quite different than what we used growing up (pencil and paper?) there are intentional reasons for these methods. Read on to learn more... The Basics Much of the Montessori curriculum is based on giving children exposure to concrete materials first, then giving them incremental opportunities to work to more abstract concepts. This is no different when it comes to math. What do we mean by concrete? The children are able to hold a material in their hands. The materials are symbolic or representative of something else (a number, perhaps), and that symbolism changes over time until children are ready to let go of the materials and find solutions on paper or even ...
