MA 3.01Colored Bead Stair
The child builds a stair of colored bead bars 1–9 and learns the color of each number, which is used in every later bead material.
Age 4Work 1 of 7 in Linear Counting
Presentation
- 1
Lay the bars on the mat in random order.
- 2
Find the one bead: 'This is one.' Find the two bar: count it, 'two'. Build the stair in a triangle, from 1 at the top to 9 at the bottom, lined up on the left.
- 3
Count each bar with the child, touching each bead.
- 4
Three-period lesson on bars 1–3, then 4–6, then 7–9 over several lessons.
- 5
Lay numeral cards beside each bar.
- 6
Mix the bars; the child rebuilds the stair and places the cards.
Extensions, easiest to hardest
- Name a bar by its color alone, then check by counting.
- Guide names a number; the child finds the bar from a mixed box.
- Build the stair upside down, 9 to 1.
Control of error
Each bar is one bead longer than the one before; out of order, the stair edge is uneven. Counting beads checks each bar.
Ready to move on when the child…
- Builds the stair correctly without help
- Names any bar 1–9 from its color