[7] It would, perhaps, be better in this first counting-frame to have the beads not only of different colors, but of different sizes, according to the value of the wires, as was suggested to me by a Portuguese professor who had been taking my course.
II
THE MULTIPLICATION TABLE
Material: The material for the multiplication table is in several parts. There is a square cardboard with a hundred sockets or indentures (ten rows, ten in a row), and into each of these indentures may be placed a bead. At the top of the square and corresponding to each vertical line of indentures are printed the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. At the left is an opening into which may be slipped a small piece of cardboard upon which are printed in red the numbers from 1 to 10. This cardboard serves as the multiplicand; and it can be changed, for there are ten of these slips, bearing the ten different numbers. In the upper left-hand corner is a small indenture for a little red marker, but this detail is merely secondary. This arithmetic board is a white square with a red border; and with it comes an attractive box containing a hundred loose beads.
The exercise which is done with this material is very simple. Suppose that 6 is to be multiplied by the numbers in turn from 1 to 10: 6 × 1; 6 × 2; 6 × 3; 6 × 4; 6 × 5; 6 × 6; 6 × 7; 6 × 8; 6 × 9; 6 × 10. Opposite the sixth horizontal line of indentures, in the small opening at the left is slipped the card bearing the number 6. In multiplying the 6 by 1, the child performs two operations: first, he puts the red marker above the printed 1 at the top of the board, and then he puts six beads (corresponding to the number 6) in a vertical column underneath the number 1. To multiply 6 by 2, he places the red marker over the printed 2, and adds six more beads, placed in a column under number 2. Similarly, multiplying 6 by 3, the red marker must be placed over the 3, and six more beads added in a vertical line under that number. In this manner he proceeds up to 6 × 10.
The shifting of the little red marker serves to indicate the multiplier and requires constant attention on the part of the child and great exactness in his work.
3
| Multiplication Table |
| COMBINATION OF THREE WITH THE NUMBERS 1 TO 10 |
| 3 × 1 = ___________ 3 × 2 = ___________ 3 × 3 = ___________ 3 × 4 = ___________ 3 × 5 = ___________ 3 × 6 = ___________ 3 × 7 = ___________ 3 × 8 = ___________ 3 × 9 = ___________ 3 × 10 = ___________ |