Division Board – Montessori

Materials

box of 81 green beads
box of 9 skittles
small green bowl
container of division problem slips
sheet of paper
pencil
The Division Board consists of a wooden square panel with 81 holes in 9 horizontal and 9 vertical rows. On the left side of the board are written numbers 1 through 9 on a vertical line. At the top of the panel, you can see numbers 1 through 9 on a horizontal row encapsulated in green and right beneath each number around the hollow gap where the 9 green pins will be placed. This board also includes a wooden box with compartments that store 9 small green pins and 81 green beads.

Age 5+

Presentation
Carry the material to a table or a mat and set up as shown below. If at a mat, the child will need a clipboard under the paper.

Draw a slip of paper with a division problem from the cup. In this case 16/4=

Count out 16 beads into the green bowl.

Place four skittles in the first four spots at the top of the board. Explain that each skittle represents one person.
Using the beads from the green bowl, place one bead under each skittle in the first row. (You might say, “One for you, one for you, and one for you.”) Then place another bead under each skittle in the second row.

Continue until all sixteen beads have been placed on the board.

Ask the child how many beads each person (skittle) has.

Write the answer on the paper. 16/4=4

Replace the beads and skittles in their boxes, and select another problem.

Control of Error

There is no external control of error, the child’s careful counting, knowledge of multiplication tables and the process help to guide child.

The purpose of this material is to make the child familiar with the ways in which numbers may be divided.  Not every number is evenly divisible and some are divisible by only a few numbers.