Just joining us? Welcome! This blog is our weekly feature on the Works in Montessori. Maria Montessori observed that children learn through purposeful activities of their own choosing. These purposeful activites of all students are called “work.” And each of these works are designed with a specific lesson in mind to help students learn.
Currently, we are focusing on our Elementary Math works from both our Lower and Upper Elementary classes. Last week we showed you the Fraction Circles and how students use them to learn fractions. This week we are delving into some geometry math and we are going to talk about how students learn to measure area.
We measure area often in everyday life applications such as measuring a lawn for grass fertilizer, measuring a room to lay carpet, or measuring a wall that you want to paint. Knowing how to measure area correctly will not only save you money but also a lot of your time. We teach students how to measure area by using the Yellow Triangles for Area.
As you already know, Montessori’s math curriculum is designed to be as concrete as possible. The Yellow Triangles are a set of yellow shapes designed to give a child a visual understanding of area. The box contains all the various types of triangles, rectangles in different sizes, and parallelograms and each shape is ruled in measured incerements.
Students are then, for example, able to put together two of the yellow triangles to form a rectangle, measure that rectangle and the divide that number to discover the area for each of the triangles. Along with the box of shapes we also have a stand so students are able to measure for height.
The Montessori curriculum allows the student to explore and make meaning in our world. It encourages students to become independent, lifelong learners who are ready to assume responsibility in the greater community. Come take a tour of our school and see why children should learn math the Montessori way!
