The mathematical journey in the Montessori classroom begins even before a child touches any of the math materials. Children start to build mathematical thinking in the Sensorial, Practical Life and Cultural areas of the classroom by using concrete materials to prepare the mind for abstract thinking. Each material that is found on the shelf has the goal of sparking the child’s innate love of learning in addition to having several underlying purposes. In other words, children are having fun while they are building important skills.
Eventually, as children mature and begin to think more abstractly, they will rely less and less on the concrete materials—although these materials will continue to fill the classroom with alluring beauty.
This week, Our HPMS summer camp friends decided to take math into their own hands by creating their own restaurant. They ingeniously developed all aspects of their business, including the creation of their own HPMS currency, the marketing collateral, menu, as well as roles and responsibilities (Maitre D’, wait staff, bartenders, food prep, etc.). They estimated the number of clients they would have so they could order the appropriate amount of groceries and used their math skills to manipulate the recipes for the quantities needed. And after proudly serving the HPMS teachers and staff who delighted in the whole experience, they got down to business and computed their restaurant’s profits. In conclusion? Math is fun…and tasty, too!