Teen Bead Box: Golden Ten-Chains & Coloured Bead Stair
The Teen Bead Box presents golden ten-bead chains alongside the colored bead stair from 1-10, bridging the child's understanding between linear counting and the decimal system. This essential Montessori material features a sliding wooden lid box containing segmented golden bead chains and a triangular arrangement of colored bead bars, supporting the progression from concrete sensorial exploration to abstract mathematical concepts.
“The hands are the instruments of man's intelligence.”
The Teen Bead Box embodies Montessori's principle of materialized abstractions, where mathematical concepts are made tangible through sensorial exploration.
- Understanding the relationship between units and tens in the decimal system
- Developing linear counting skills from 11-19 with concrete materials
- Building visual discrimination of quantity through color-coded bead bars
- Strengthening fine motor control through precise bead manipulation
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This material bridges the child's concrete understanding of quantity with the abstract concept of the decimal system, following the natural progression from sensorial to mathematical thinking. The combination of golden ten-beads and colored bead stairs allows children to discover relationships between numbers through manipulation and comparison. By integrating tactile, visual, and kinesthetic learning, the material respects the child's need to learn through movement and touch. The self-contained presentation in a wooden box with sliding lid honors the child's sense of order and provides a complete, aesthetically pleasing work that invites repetition and mastery.
How to present it
Follow the Montessori method of presentation for optimal child development.
Place the Teen Bead Box on a mat. Slide open the lid to reveal the materials. Arrange the colored bead bars 1-10 in stair formation on the left side of the mat. Place the golden ten-bars on the right.
- 1
Introduce the golden ten-bar, counting each bead slowly while sliding fingers along
Emphasize the pause after counting to ten, highlighting this special quantity - 2
Place one ten-bar horizontally, then add the one-bar to show 11, counting from the ten-bar through to eleven
Use consistent left-to-right orientation to support later reading skills - 3
Continue building teens 12-19, each time counting from one through the new quantity
Allow the child to predict which colored bar comes next before selecting it - 4
Invite the child to build specific teen numbers you name
Start with sequential building before moving to random number requests - 5
Introduce the three-period lesson with the quantities: 'This is 14', 'Show me 16', 'What is this?'
Work with only 2-3 numbers at a time to ensure success
Every Child Is a Little Creator
Heritage
Since 1929
Brands used by
schools worldwide
European brands
AMI
Endorsed
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