MATHEMATICS ESSAY
HOW DOES THE CHILD PROGRESS FROM CONCRETE TO ABSTRACT IN THE MATHEMATICS MATERIALS,
Mathematics is the most eye opening of the entire Montessori curriculum. It is full of fascinating and beautiful hands on materials that bring the mathematical concept to life. The goal of Dr. Montessori was not just to teach the children the children to recognize numbers and calculate but enable them to think logically. The mathematics materials develop the child mathematical mind, the ability to reason abstract, investigate, calculate, and measure and also exactness. Her mathematical materials allow the children to begin their mathematical journey from concrete to abstract idea”
The mathematical mind has a foundation Maria Montessori said that a mathematical mind was “a sort of mind which is built up with exactness.” The mathematical mind tends to estimate, needs to quantify, to see identity, similarity, difference, and patterns, to make order and sequence and to control error. All children have human tendencies that are related directly to the mathematical mind. Montessorians recognize the necessity for order and exactness. We place materials quite intentionally on trays, we color code activities, materials are displayed in a logical sequence, and we break down movements during presentations into series of sequential steps. Children practice calculation skills when determining how much water to pour or precisely how many drops of polish to squeeze out of a dropper.
The practical life exercises have been described as the corner stone of Montessori development The Practical life exercises in everyday living skills help the child to improve his fine motor skills, eye-hand co-coordination and concentration. The activities are familiar tasks to their home settings, such as pouring, transferring, sweeping or even cleaning the shoes. For example, the child begin with simple pouring exercises such as pouring beans from jug to jug then progress to more complex exercise like pouring
Mathematics is the most eye opening of the entire Montessori curriculum. It is full of fascinating and beautiful hands on materials that bring the mathematical concept to life. The goal of Dr. Montessori was not just to teach the children the children to recognize numbers and calculate but enable them to think logically. The mathematics materials develop the child mathematical mind, the ability to reason abstract, investigate, calculate, and measure and also exactness. Her mathematical materials allow the children to begin their mathematical journey from concrete to abstract idea”
The mathematical mind has a foundation Maria Montessori said that a mathematical mind was “a sort of mind which is built up with exactness.” The mathematical mind tends to estimate, needs to quantify, to see identity, similarity, difference, and patterns, to make order and sequence and to control error. All children have human tendencies that are related directly to the mathematical mind. Montessorians recognize the necessity for order and exactness. We place materials quite intentionally on trays, we color code activities, materials are displayed in a logical sequence, and we break down movements during presentations into series of sequential steps. Children practice calculation skills when determining how much water to pour or precisely how many drops of polish to squeeze out of a dropper.
The practical life exercises have been described as the corner stone of Montessori development The Practical life exercises in everyday living skills help the child to improve his fine motor skills, eye-hand co-coordination and concentration. The activities are familiar tasks to their home settings, such as pouring, transferring, sweeping or even cleaning the shoes. For example, the child begin with simple pouring exercises such as pouring beans from jug to jug then progress to more complex exercise like pouring
Bibliography: The Secret of Childhood, Maria Montessori The Discovery of the Child The Absorbent Mind, Maria Montessori Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work, EM Standing accessed online at http://www.archive.org/details/mariamontessorih000209mbp http://www.lms.ac.uk/policy/tackling/node5.html