I was first introduced to Cuisenaire Rods and the ideas in this free math tutoring video (and others) through the Miquon math curriculum. The use of the word “of” for multiplication rocked our math world here in this house! It also comes in handy when teaching fractions (think: 1/2 OF 1/3 when reading 1/2 x 1/3).
Cuisenaire Rods provide a visual and tactile way for children to learn and REMEMBER how multiplication works. If they forget a math fact, they will be able to work out the answer through distribution strategies that are naturally understood when working with these math blocks.
The multiplication table SHOULD NOT be the way children are introduced to multiplication. Symbols, tables, charts, etc. should always be the last thing introduced after plenty of work with manipulatives. When children struggle in math, it is usually because they do not have a visual framework of what it all means. This method ensures that that won’t happen.
Playing the game in this free math tutoring video will give your kids lots of practice with multiplication and addition!
Cuisenaire Rods are excellent tools for learning math concepts. They give a kinesthetic and visual component to elementary math (that is usually only taught with abstract symbols).
This free math tutoring video shows an important concept to understand for place value, the distributive property, and long multiplication and division. Start small and, over time, work your way up to the type of problem we did at the end. Let children figure out the pattern for themselves by using the Cuisenaire Rods to actually SEE how you are just jumping up to the next decimal place.
