A
quick count - Twelve children are busy with different math activities on the
floor from the sandpaper numbers, to the teen boards, the beads and the
geometric solids. There are even children at tables doing math using pegboards,
puzzles and beads. And the class teacher is on the floor sitting opposite a
pair and engaging in math!
As
soon as I walk in, the teacher looks up from the carpet and smiles at me. It is
hard to distinguish her from the children as she sits cross- legged on the mat.
Before I can even put my bag down, Alex (name has been changed) charges towards
me and says” can I do that (he points to the 100 cubes). That has been the pattern with Alex, Jamie
and Ridhaa. Every week over these last few weeks, as soon as I walk in they
want to do something different in math.
I
ask them to get mats and go with them to the shelf to carry the beads. Each one
carries something to the mat: Alex the unit beads, ten bead bars and the 100
bead squares on a tray, Jamie the felt squares and Ridhaa the 1000 cubes. We
feel the beads and name them. I tell them that the one bead is called 1 unit,
the 10 bead bar is 1- 10, the 100 beads are called 100 square and the 1000
beads are called 1000 cube. We feel, count and compare the beads to see if the
1 - 10 really has 10 beads and the 100 square a hundred unit beads and ten rows
of 10 bead bars. (I notice from the corner of my eye the teacher observing the
presentation). It feels good as I am sure that next week she will be doing this
very presentation with another group
I
leave the group alone and walk around observing the children busy with other
math activities.
I
notice that the teacher is doing addition sums with two boys. She is using the
table top rods and addition signs and wooden symbols. Every now and then she is
referring to her little notebook at her side. Later, she shows me the notebook
and explains it is her way of remembering the activities and materials. She
finds it small enough to walk around and refer to as needed.
What
a change from a few months ago!
After
the training workshops in May, the materials were given to the class teachers
for use by the children. For a few weeks there seemed to be a reluctance to put
the materials out on a shelf. Then I
offered to lay them out on the shelf in order.
Still no one touched them (Not least the teacher) until I walked
in and invited children. The teacher continued with her daily programme and
seemed to ignore the math area set out.
One morning I asked her why the children were not using the materials
even though they were on the shelf? She explained that there was no time in her
schedule, that the morning was group work - that she allocated to each group
according to her plan. The class teacher directed the children to their groups
and activities for the morning. And she didn’t know how to include the
Montessori math into her schedule!
Hence, not a single child would take the materials off the shelf
until I approached them.
After suggesting that she include the Montessori math as one group
activity that she can allocate, the teacher took the initiative to direct
children in pairs to the various math activities. The interest in math seemed
to spread like wildfire – her interest peaked as she saw how the children were
learning their numbers, shapes and counting. And so it came to be that the math
group is the largest group in the class. It even brought the teacher to her
knees. She abandoned teaching from the
chair and declared the carpet more comfortable. Last week she said with pride
in her voice “ Look at my children – they are counting in 1000’s and they even
can show you a square based pyramid! Even the ones with learning difficulties
are doing something”
I don’t know which came first- the children’s interest in large
numbers or the teacher’s confidence with the Montessori math materials? Does it even matter? Have we peaked their interest in math? Is there
a tiny spark in their souls or a belief that says we can do math, we love to do
math?
