Static Subtraction with the Golden Beads

Montessori Static Subtraction with the Golden Beads

A bank of Golden Beads

A set of large number cards

Three sets of small number cards

2 felt mats

A felt lined tray for each child

3 tables – one for the beads (bank)

one for the cards

one floor mat

To teach the child about subtraction in the concrete form.

To teach the child the term “subtraction”

NA

1. Begin the work cycle. This is a group exercise.
2. One child is put in charge of the bank.
3. Give each child in the group a felt – lined tray.
4. The Montessori Directress makes up a number, such as 463 with the large number cards and places it on the bottom right hand corner of the child’s tray.
5. The child goes to the bank and collects the corresponding amount of beads.
6. The Montessori Directress then shows the child how to lay out his beads on the top left hand side of the mat and the cards to the right of that.
7. The Montessori Directress makes up another number, such as 222 in small number cards, for the second child. The child is told that this is the number we will “take away” from the larger number, and that he is not required to collect any beads.
8. The second child brings his tray to the mat and the Montessori Directress tells the child that she will show him how to take away the number on the tray from the number on the mat.
9. Tell the child to start with the units and to take away to units and place them onto his tray.[/DAP]
10. He also takes away 2 ten bed bars, and 2 hundred bead squares from the mat and places them on his tray.
11. Show the child how to place the small number cards under the large number cards to remind him of the number that he subtracted.
12. The tray with the beads is then set to one side on the mat.
13. The Montessori Directress then tells the children that we must count the beads left over on the mat to find our answer.
14. We start counting the units, then the tens, then the hundreds.
15. The child collects and places the corresponding small number cards below the beads at every stage.
16. The Montessori Directress re-states the sum. She also says that we did “subtraction” – that is, we started with a big amount and now we only have a small amount of beads left.
17. End the work cycle.