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Montessori Math Multiplication with Short Bead Stair

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This colorful Montessori Bead Box is one of my favorites. You can purchase a Montessori box of beads on Amazon for a reasonable price. You will get a lot of use out of this box of beads. Imagine a child learning multiplication with such beautiful objects? That’ll hook them if nothing else will! Below is a lesson on Multiplication with Short Bead Stair. Let me know what you think!

checker board

Invite the child to learn how to multiply. Carry box to table or mat.

Multiplication with Short Bead Stair Lesson

Presentation I: Introduction to Multiplication

Multiplication with Short Bead Stair

“We will begin by multiplying threes. 3 taken 1 time is 3.” Lay a 3 bar horizontally.

Montessori Math Short Bead Stair Multiplication Lesson

Show the product underneath with a vertical bead bar: “Now, let’s see how many 3 taken 2 times is…3 taken 2 times is 6.” Place two three bars horizontally. Then place a six bar vertically underneath the three bars.

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Continue with 3 taken 3 times by placing and so on to 3 x 10.

Show the child how to record the equations in a blank booklet.

Return the bars to the box and invite the child to try another numeral.

MULTI with Short Bead Stair

If a child runs out of bars doing the layout, suggest that he identify the needed bars in the products. So, for example, if the child runs out of three bars then he can retrieve a two bar and a one bar to add up to three.

Presentation II: Multiplication by Ten

Montessori Multiplying by 10

“One taken ten times is the same as what?”

“Two taken ten times is the same as ten taken two times. What do we call two tens? Yes, twenty.”

Continue with this approach through 100. When you get to 100, ask the child if the bars remind her of anything. Get out the hundred square and place it beside the answer.  When the child records these numbers, have her write the zeros in red to emphasize the ten times any number can be formed by adding zero to that number.

Additional Resources

  1. DIY Montessori Beads from Montessori Mischief
  2. DIY Golden Beads from Montessori Mischief
  3. DIY Montessori Math Beads from Imagine Our Life
  4. DIY Bead Bars from Living Montessori Now
  5. Bead Printables from Montessori Printshop

Thanks for stopping by…

Marnie

About Marnie Craycroft

Marnie hails from Maine where she spent summers buried in sand and winters buried in snow. She is the daughter of a nearly four decade veteran of the public school systems. Teaching has always been a part of her life. She founded Carrots Are Orange in 2010.

Carrots Are Orange is a Montessori learning and living website for parents and teachers.

Marnie graduated from Wesleyan University in 1999 with a BA in Economics. She spent nearly a decade working in investment management. In 2006, she earned her MA in business from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business.

Marnie moved to the west coast in 1999 and currently lives in Boulder with her husband and three sons. She is Montessori trained. Her work has been featured on Apartment Therapy, Buzzfeed, PBS Kids, BabyCenter, the Melissa & Doug blog, Huffington Post, and WhattoExpect.com. Besides writing, passions include running (usually after her three sons), photography, and outdoor adventures.

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