Dear Maria, 



My child went to a Montessori preschool and is a new student at Cascadia. This year, I still hear them talking about the bead cabinet. Are they still doing primary work? Why are they always working with the same materials? When will there be anything new?

Sincerely, 

Are We Getting Anywhere 

Dear Are We Getting Anywhere, 

Part of the beauty of the Montessori materials is that they purposefully engage children in repetition. By doing a beloved activity over and over again, children go deeper and make connections they otherwise would miss - and they do this on their own and without having to be drilled. So it is with many concepts presented with the bead cabinet - such as counting and multiples of numbers. But did you know that in Montessori Elementary, the bead cabinet is also used to introduce and learn about squares and cubes of numbers? Read more about this material in another of our blogs (What are bead chains? Are they jewelry?)

Another amazing aspect of Montessori materials is that they have many different purposes and are brought back to use with the children to present multiple concepts throughout their Elementary years. In this way, the students discover the connection between concepts (see this blog on Cosmic Education, Infinity and Questions), and are not just taught isolated concepts. Being aware of the network  of connections between concepts helps students gain deeper knowledge of subject matter.