Math concepts a la Montessori

This evening, we saw at the school how the kids learn math concept in a Montessori way. It was amazing! The kids start with touching, feeling the beads, they are looking at them. Couple years later, they end up understanding the concept of squares and cubes, like 2 to the square of 5. They don't memorize, but understand. They see that 2 to the square of 5 makes a real geometric square made of beads. They actually see a cube being build up. I hear often that kids from Montessori schools are good at math, I am not surprised. I understand that the girls will know math concept better than I do - and much better than P does, needles to say.

While the six teachers from different levels were explaining the concepts, showing us parents how the children work with the material, we could easily sense that there was so much more to it, so many dimensions that covered complex math concepts. I am truly impressed!