Montessori Division Board
The Montessori method of education believes that children take a keen interest and learn with better precision when lessons are taught through hands-on learning, allowing them to learn at their own pace.
The Montessori Method of education is a child-driven pedagogical tool that does not give more importance to grades or academic scores and instead holds the child’s holistic development process as a means to track their progress.
This educational tool advocates using different materials at specific stages through the child’s progression in math.
According to the Montessori philosophy, children have a mathematical mind and an intrinsic desire to explore their surrounding environment.
Their curious minds are brimming with energy that drives them to absorb, classify, manipulate, order, sequence, and repeat.
Children have an innate ability and natural inclination towards problem-solving, which get wings when they learn math through Montessori materials. They can develop mathematical skills miraculously at an early age.
The Montessori Division Board is another such Montessori material for teaching early mathematics through an abstract-to-concrete approach.
Have you heard about the Montessori Division Board?
Do you want to know more about it? Let us explore more about it.
Contents
What is a Montessori Division Board?
The Montessori Division Board is a wooden board that helps in learning mathematical concepts of division in Montessori.
The board has 81 holes in 9 horizontal and nine vertical rows. It has numbers from 1 to 9 printed across the top and bottom to the left-hand side.
The Montessori Division Board can make learning math fun and excite children.
When can the Montessori Division Board be introduced to children?
Children can be introduced to the division board when they are five and a half years old. They must be familiar with the addition, subtraction, and multiplication concepts before presenting the Montessori Division Board to them.
Why is the Montessori Division Board important for children?
The Montessori Division Board has many benefits for the children. Let us see why they are significant in learning math in Montessori.
It provides a flexible math schedule.
It is often difficult for children to focus on one activity at a time. With the division board, it becomes easy to chalk out a 2-3 hour work schedule for the activity, as the child gets engaged without getting distracted.
It teaches practical life skills.
A Montessori division board can be taught in isolation and can be incorporated along with real-life activities as well.
Children can learn to divide things in the kitchen or while working, like dividing fruits between siblings or playing with toys.
It gives freedom of choice.
Children get to choose the work they want to do. In this way, they remain focused on the task and enjoy working on it. They try to complete the activity independently without interruption.
It helps learn a math concept.
The Montessori division board introduces children to the division sign through fun and allows them to explore different ways of performing it.
Dr. Maria Montessori believed children absorb and retain information for prolonged periods when they learn through hands-on activities with concrete materials. This division board incorporates her ideas perfectly.
It makes learning fun.
The wooden board, colorful beads, and pins make the learning process fun and smooth. It enables the child to identify the numbers visually. With the aid of the beads and pins, the child has a blast, dividing effortlessly as it makes learning a game.
It is safe for children.
With little supervision, this division board is safe for children above three years old to handle themselves. Made of wood, it is child-friendly and non-toxic. With little guidance and reminders about the beads being small in size, children can explore the beads for fine motor work on the board.
How do you present the Montessori Division Board to children?
Objective – To demonstrate the concept of division in a concrete and easy-to-understand way.
Materials
- The unit division board
- Nine green skittles
- A box with 81 green beads
- Printed division slip
Presentation
- Show the material and ask the child to bring it to the table.
- Introduce the division board to the child and explain its use.
- Tell him the numbers on the side will be the answers.
- Write on a paper slip a simple division problem, like 12 divided by 3.
- Tell him that 12 is the dividend here and 3 is the divisor. Explain that 12 has to be shared by 3.
- Place three skittles along the top of the board.
- Place 12 green beads into the glass bowl.
- Pick the beads from the green bowl one by one and place one under each skittle horizontally until all 12 beads have been placed equally under each skittle.
- Now you can explain to the child how the 12 beads have occupied three rows, with each skittle having four beads.
- Tell the child that 12 divided by 3 is equal to 4. Let him know that 4 is the quotient.
- Ask the child to write the answer on the paper.
- Now ask him to replace the beads and skittles in the bowl.
- Now select another equation to explain the remainder concept to him. Write another division problem, like 32 divided by 7.
- Ask the child to do this equation as he had just done the last one.
- Guide him when he makes a mistake while placing all 32 beads on the top of the board.
- Show the child that row numbers from one to four are full until the seventh skittle, but row five is not filled with beads, therefore 32 is not divisible by 7.
- Explain the remainder concept by explaining that the remainder can never be greater than the dividend. Tell that four is the remainder here as the fifth row has four beads.
- As the child writes the answer and the remainder, check if the remainder is less than the dividend.
- Similarly, take some equations with big numbers and let the child do them independently while you observe.
- You can also try equations with the remainder greater than the dividend, like 81 divided by 8.
- Let the child do this equation and find the remainder.
- Have the child notice that it is bigger than the dividend.
- You can cross the equation telling this is not possible.
- You can end the presentation here.
Note: You can introduce remainders to the children after they understand the division of numbers thoroughly. They will find the division process interesting.
Where can you buy a Montessori Division Board?
You can check some good ones in Montessori Official, Amazon, and Alison’s Montessori.
Neinhuis also offers the best quality Montessori materials.
You can also use a printable division board of your own instead of buying.
Are you still thinking about whether your child will be interested in the Montessori Division Board?
Learning division using the Montessori Division Board will be fascinating for the children. The division concept can be introduced when the child has a firm grasp of value and quantity.
While children in Montessori discover math concepts through natural play, the abstract to the concrete approach of the Montessori material helps them understand the concept with clarity.
Teaching by traditional methods does not benefit the child in the long run when they start learning complicated concepts in math.
But working with the Montessori Division Board, children become familiar enough with the division concept and slowly transition from physical materials to solving the same equations using pen and paper.
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