Material name: Short Division with Board and Racks of Tubes – Montessori Short Division with Board and Racks of Tubes
Area: Mathematics
Purpose & developmental benefits:
Short Division with Board and Racks of Tubes allows children to practice short division in a structured and visual way by distributing quantities into tubes on a division board. Children clearly experience the processes of equal sharing, handling remainders, and determining the quotient, while also seeing the close relationship between division, multiplication, and subtraction within a single problem.
This material serves as an important transition from the Unit Division Board and Division Charts to Long Division and abstract, written division.
Skills children develop:
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Practice short division with a one-digit divisor
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Understand equal sharing and how to work with remainders
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Develop logical thinking and step-by-step reasoning
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Build strong organization, accuracy, and sustained concentration
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Prepare for long division and division word problems
Recommended age: 7–9 years old (after solid work with the Multiplication Charts and the Unit Division Board)
Materials & components:
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Division board with clearly defined columns
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Racks of tubes for distributing quantities
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Individual tubes representing units to be shared
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Made from durable wood, metal, or plastic in Montessori-standard colors
Use in the classroom / at home:
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Children set out the quantity to be divided → distribute it into the tubes
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Count the contents of each tube to determine the quotient
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Identify any remainder if present
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Individual work that supports self-correction
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Direct preparation for the Long Division Board and written division
