Recommended Age: 5 to 6 years (may be younger depending on the child’s skills and experiences)
Purpose: To help the memorization process for multiplication
Level of Parent Involvement: Medium, the adult must facilitate the initial exercise, once shown the child may work independently
Prerequisites
- The child must be able to count accurately from 1-10 and onwards
- The child must be able to write numbers
- The child must be able to match the numeral symbol with its quantity of numbers 1-10 and beyond
- The child must have had many experiences in operations with the golden beads (addition, subtraction, MULTIPLICATION and division)
- The child has been introduced to skip counting through work with the short and long bead chains
- The child has worked with the multiplication beads
Materials
* A wooden board with 100 holes for 100 red beards with numerals 1 to 10 across the top to indicate the multiplier, a hole to place the marker, a slot at the side with a hole to show the card with the multiplicand
* A box with the cards for the multiplicand
* A red disc to indicate the multiplier
* Prepared multiplication tables 1 to 10
* Pencil
Preparation
Steps
- Invite the child, introducing the multiplication board, bring the materials to the table
- Introduce the number cards explaining they tell us which number we want to take, show the child how to slide the card into the board
- Introduce the disc, explaining to the child it tells us how many times we want to take the number
- Invite the child to choose a number card and slide it into the board, for example 5
- Show the child how to make 5 with the red beads on the board, then remove
- Then ask the child “how many times do you want to take 5?”
- Child responds “2” for example, child places the disc above the number
- Invite the child to take 5, 2 times using the red beads to place onto the board
- Then count the red beads with the child saying “5 taken 2 times is ten”
- Repeat a few more times giving the child practice with using the board, the may choose different number cards to slide in and they may move the disc
- After the child has had sufficient practice bring the pencil and the prepared multiplication tables paper
- Child chooses a number and writes at the top of the paper, then fills in the answers using the multiplication board
- Child may do as many papers as they please
- At the end show the child control chart 1 to check their answers
Variations
- None