The Montessori materials are unique.  Through her observations, Dr. Montessori deduced that children learn through the use of their hands. So, each of her self-correcting materials is designed to be manipulated.  Children are encouraged to practice the same materials over and over again until they have reached mastery of the concept.  Through the continued use of these materials a child can move from a concrete understanding with the materials to an abstract understanding of the concepts without them.  

Many of the materials you find in upper elementary rooms are the same materials you will find in primary rooms.  The only difference is the way each material is used.

For example, take the trinomial cube.   In the primary room, the trinomial cube is used sensorially.  The child takes the cubes apart, feels the shape of each prism and learns how to correctly fit the prisms back into their wooden box.  

As a child ages and matures developmentally, they learn that this cube is the physical explanation of the algebraic number sentence (a + b + c)³. 

We hope that this resource section will help you not only understand the materials, but will enable you to help your child learn at home.