Montessori hands-on materials allow students a physical, visceral connection with math – not some memorized equation for how to solve for “x and y” on a test. When students develop a concrete understanding by using hands-on materials, their understanding is internalized within them as problems grows increasingly more complex and abstract. Students know that mathematics helps us solve real problems encountered in the real world every day.
It’s exciting to watch children standing at the nexus of where concrete and abstract math come together and to see their relationship with numbers grow from simple counting, to understanding base 10, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and beginning algebra all in their preprimary classroom.
