The 1000 chain, made of 100 bars of ten; a larger ring connects each 100.
10 squares of 100 beads, 1 cube of 1000 beads.
Small labels (arrows) grouped for each hundred – 1 to 9 in green, all tens blue,
Each hundred red, 1000 green.
A tray, and a rug as long as the chain.
- Invite the child to the lesson.
- Show the child the long rug for the 1000 chain.
- Find a place on the carpet to place it and ask the child to unroll it.
- Introduce the 1000 chain.
- “This is the 1000 chain, and we hold it like this.”
- Show the child how to carry it, by picking up one ring at a time with your dominant hand, and placing your subdominant hand through the loop where the two hundred chains meet the ring.
- After your subdominant hand is through all the loops, with the rings on the top of your subdominant hand, place it back on the bead cabinet.
- Put the 1000 chain on the child’s hand in the same way.
- Ask the child to take the 1000 chain to the rug.
- At the rug, point to a spot on the left side of the rug that leaves about just enough space for you to unfold ten 10 bars to the left.
- Ask the child to lay the chain down, rings towards the left side.
- With a finger or two, make neat rows with the 1000 chain, in ten sections of 100, so that it doesn’t get tangled up.
- Unfold ten 10 bars to the left.
- Ask the child to slowly unfold the rest of the chain all the way to the end of the rug.
- Be sure to tell the child when to stop as he may pull the chain too far, and off the rug.
- Once the chain is completely unfolded, admire the chain with the child.
- After admiring the chain, ask the child to fold it back up.
- Ask the child to go to the cabinet and place all of the hundred squares and the thousand cube on a green tray and to bring it all back to the rug.
- Superimpose a couple of the hundred squares on the squares of the folded 1000 chain.
- Point out how all of the rings show you when to start a new square.
- Ask the child superimpose the rest.
- Once all the 100 squares have been superimposed, place the thousand cube on the right at the end of the 10 squares.
- Pick up a 100 square and place it next to the 1000 cube.
- Stack the rest of the 100 squares, superimposing them upon each other, forming a 1000 cube.
- Admire how the ten 100 squares make a 1000 cube.
- Place the 100 squares and the 1000 cube back on the tray.
- Ask the child to unfold the chain again, the same way as before.
- Once the chain is unfolded, ask the child to get the large ticket box above where the 1000 chain hangs and bring it on a tray to the rug (Show the child if necessary.)
- Take the first bag out of the ticket container.
- Place the tickets from the first bag on the tray.
- Ask the child to count and touch each every single bead, and place the tickets accordingly.
- Once the child gets to 100, assist the child by counting together:
one-hundred-one, one-hundred-two, and so on until the child is secure to continue counting on his own again.
- Watch as the child continues counting and touching beads, and placing tickets.
- Once the child finishes one bag of tickets, such as 100, show how to place a 100 square at the final 10 bar where the 100 chain section ends, right before the ring.
- Open a new bag of tickets and place them on the tray.
- Continue this process all the way to 1000, the child working more on his own as his confidence grows.
- Ask the child to place the 1000 cube at the end once all is counted.
- Walk with the child to the beginning of the rug and ask the child to read the tickets from start to end.
- Ask the child to read the tickets backwards.
- After the exercise, pick up the tickets first, one section at a time, and place them into their proper bags.
- Ask the child to place the 100 squares and 1000 cube on the tray and back in the cabinet.
- Ask the child to fold the chain back up and place it in the cabinet.
- Ask the child to roll up the rug.
Child works independently.
To practice linear counting and to reinforce the sequence of numbers up to 1000. To show the striking difference between the hundred chain and the thousand chain.
Preparation for multiplication. Preparation for squaring and cubing.
Sensorial experience of the difference of 10 squared and 10 cubed.
With the child, say “eight hundred thirty four” not “eight thirty four.”
You can ask an experienced child to help the child working on this, preferably for a limited time, such as offering help up to 300.
This is before the stamp game.
It’s with the 100 and 1000 chain that the child better understands how the numbers go on and on.