Calculating with Shandy
In the Acacia group there is a task that is particularly popular with the Montessori pupils: “Arithmetic with Shandy”. Shandy is the dog of one of our teachers. All Acacia children are happy when Shandy comes to class and “supports” them in their learning
In “Arithmetic with Shandy”, he even interacts directly with the children: Shandy rolls the dice and the pupils practise mental arithmetic by adding up the numbers on the dice. Each child decides how difficult he or she wants the task to be and places a certain number of dice in the dice bottle. The various dice differ in shape, colour and whether eyes or numbers are printed on them. Before Shandy is used, he receives a small treat. Then the child gives the command “Dice Shandy!” and the class dog skilfully and joyfully throws the bottle over. The numbers on top are then added up in the head by the calculating partner. The children and Shandy love this task, even children who might not otherwise enjoy practising arithmetic! Shandy is a welcome guest at Akazie and is of course also allowed to watch when the pupils are working with Montessori materials, such as the hundreds board or the Pythagoras board.