How to Teach Static and Dynamic Addition to Kids

In this post I am going to present how to do static and dynamic addition using the Montessori Golden Bead Material.  I purchased our Golden Beads at Absorbent Minds UK and I am happy of the learning material despite of the high price.  These materials can also be purchased in any Montessori Shop or in Amazon.

STATIC ADDITION USING MONTESSORI GOLDEN BEADS

Mavi would work on this in the morning.  I find it hard to make him do Montessori activities in the afternoon as he tends to be tired or prefer to have a free play.

Anyway, we set up the materials together and he finishes the task with little assistance from me.  I prepared the equations in advance in Post-Its rather than using the small number cards.  During the entire session he picks 4 to 5 Post-Its in our magic box and would solve the equations one by one.
Shown below is an equation he worked on.


So given the equation, Mavi will layout the Golden beads (shown above).  We read out the quantity of the beads from left to right.

Now to add, he combines the two sets of Golden beads.  Emphasize to the student that addition is the task of putting together.  Once the beads are combined, he counts the unit beads first and work through the tens and hundreds (to thousands if available).  Here Mavi would take note of the quantity by getting a large number card to represent the quantity.  He does the same thing with the tens and hundreds.  Now, note that we are currently doing addition up to hundreds only.


To represent the sum Mavi stacked the number cards together as shown below.  We would the  read the number together. Now we do this most of the time because he keeps on forgetting how to read large numbers.  If number cards are not available you can always use printable number cards or just let the child write the sum on paper.

DYNAMIC ADDITION USING MONTESSORI GOLDEN BEADS (REGROUPING OF ONES)

Dynamic addition is commonly known as the process of addition wherein we need to carry over an amount to the next higher decimal place value.  In Montessori they do this by regrouping.  The process is similar to static addition but the regrouping takes place when we combine the Golden beads.


Based on the equation that Mavi worked on, 8 and 7 combined equals 15.  When regrouped 15 is also equivalent to 10 and 5 units.  Now, what we did here is to replace the 10 units with a ten gold bar and retain the 5 unit beads.  Add the new ten bar to the left and you can now start counting the total sum by counting the regrouped beads (start counting from the right).

DYNAMIC ADDITION USING MONTESSORI GOLDEN BEADS (REGROUPING OF TENS)

A similar process is applied when you need to regroup the tens.  Replace 10 ten gold bars with a hundred bar and move it up to the left.


Then count the total sum of the beads from right to left.


And that’s about it!  This will visually illustrate to the child the concept carrying over a certain amount to the next decimal place value!  You might think this is complicated but once you started working on it, it’s fun and can be addicting… well, that’s according to Mavi :)

If you are looking for extension work on Montessori Golden Beads you can check out this learning material, Montessori Golden Beads (Base 10 ) Task Cards.