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HOW CHILDREN UTILIZE THEIR MATHEMATICAL MIND AS PART OF THEIR NATURAL PROGRESSION

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HOW CHILDREN UTILIZE THEIR MATHEMATICAL MIND AS PART OF THEIR NATURAL PROGRESSION
“Dr Maria Montessori took this idea that the human has a mathematical mind from a French philosopher Pascal and developed a revolutionary math learning material for children as young as 3 years old. Her mathematical materials allow the children to begin their mathematical journey from a concrete concept to abstract idea”.
With reference to the above statement please discuss how these children utilize their mathematical mind as part of their natural progression, to reason, to calculate and estimate with these Montessori mathematical materials in conjunction with their aims and presentations?
What is a mathematical mind? The Mathematical Mind’ refers to the unique tendencies of the human mind. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal said that ‘every human being is born with a mathematical mind’. Dr. Montessori borrowing this concept, further explained that the mathematical mind is the “sort of mind which is built up with ‘exactitude’”.
“In our work therefore, we have given a name to this part of the mind which is built up with exactitude, and we call it the ‘mathematical mind’. I take the term from Pascal, the French Philosopher, Physicist and Mathematician, who said that the man’s mind was mathematical by nature, and that knowledge and progress came from accurate observation.” – Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 17, Pg. 169
She said the qualities of a mathematical mind was such that always tends to estimate; needs to quantify, to see identity, similarity, difference, and patterns to make order and sequence. The concepts within the mathematical mind do not simply refer to common associations with math, such as basic operations. Instead, Montessori believed that the human tendencies lead one to be mathematical in thought. That is, basic human tendencies such as order, orientation, exactness, repetition, activity, and manipulation of objects, all lead to the development of a mathematical process of thought.
“The child perceives, without conscious


Bibliography: Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, Montessori Pierson Publishing Company, the Netherlands, Reprinted 2007 Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child, Montessori Pierson Publishing Company, the Netherlands, Reprinted 2007 Modern Montessori Institute, DMT 107 Mathematics Students’ Manual David Gettman, Basic Montessori, Saint Martin’s Press, 1987 Elizabeth Hainstock, Teaching Montessori in the Home, Random House Publishing Group, 2013
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