In Montessori, we use green for units place, blue for tens place, and red for hundreds place. I like to use this color coding in a Waldorf classroom as well, beginning with grade 2 when we study
Column Algorithms / Place Value.
An excerpt from the Column Algorithms / Place Value page on my website:
Activity One - Gems / Pouches / Basket
Many years ago I was at a homeschool training at Barbara Dewey's and a woman named Misty
shared with me what she had done to introduce place value. A group of families worked together to set
this up for the children in their homeschool group. They laid out 100
individual gems in a long line on the ground. The children counted as they picked them up: 1, 2, 3, etc.
When they got to gem 9 their hands were beginning to get full. Right beside the tenth gem was a small pouch. They made
a group of ten gems in a pouch, then picked up the eleventh gem, etc. After nine pouches (each of ten) and nine
individual gems, they finally reached gem 100! For this they were provided the tenth pouch and a basket to put all ten pouches in.
It was a lovely idea and she said they always understood it thereafter.
To do this
in a way that is compatible with the Montessori color coding for the digits, use green glass gems, small blue pouches
for the 10, and a large red basket for the 100.
for small blue pouches of 10:
Etsy white linen favor gift bag
beautifully made 100% white linen and so easy to dye blue
LinenForest sells these as a set of 10 (and it would be fun to dye these with your child first and keep a mystery what you were going to use them for...)
If you prefer to purchase blue pouches, I suggest these
small sheer organza pouches
red willow basket with folding handles
A red box, bin, pie plate, platter, Christmas cookie tin, etc. would work just as well. The color is what's most important.
To introduce this
place value activity with a Waldorf story you could use The White Snake from Grimm's
(organizing the grains of millet into sacks)
The Hundred-Year Barn
You could also use The Hundred-Year Barn by Patricia MacLachlan.
This story does a wonderful job of showing the passing of time. It is a really lovely way to talk about the number 100 and, as a bonus,
the barn is red which is the color we use for the 100s place.
The Firehouse Light
Just found another possibility for the number 100, particularly for the idea of skip counting by tens. It also highlights the color red AND
is a true story!
The Firehouse Light by Janet Nolan.
Mr. George Baker
*NEW* A new idea for introducing 100! Mr. George Baker by Amy Hest. This book highlights the importance of school and of learning to read, and the two of them each have a red backpack. So you could use a red backback or satchel to hold your ten baggies of ten gems!
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