One of the most exciting and loved materials in the Montessori Cycle 1 classroom is the Golden Beads. This hands-on material introduces children to the decimal system and helps them build a deep understanding of place value and quantity through exploration and play.

We begin with the physical representation of quantity:

• 1 unit (a single bead)

• 1 ten (a bar of 10 beads)

• 1 hundred (a square made of 10 ten-bars)

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