How to Teach Counting Numbers from 11 to 19 Using DIY Montessori Teen Board + Free Printable

My son is now 4.3 years old and he is becoming interested in counting numbers. There are several counting activities we do at home and we use several materials. One material that we are using recently, that my son likes so much, is our DIY Montessori Teen Board.

In this post, I will tell you how I introduced the teen board to my son and I will also share with you a free printable of our DIY Montessori Teen Board that we are using. This material is very useful to provide concrete representations of the numbers eleven to nineteen (11-19).

The Montessori Teen Board is a little bit pricey but it’s very easy to recreate and both provide the same benefit anyway so I chose to just DIY this material. And since it is really easy to make, I decided to share a free printable of our DIY Montessori Teen Board here on my blog.

My son started counting when he was almost 3 years old and during that time I provided some practical counting activities to promote one-to-one correspondence. However, since he was very young then we only focused on numbers one to ten.

Now that he is becoming more interested in counting numbers and he is trying to count beyond 10. I decided to use the Montessori bead stairs in our counting activities or sometimes we use the DIY hundred boards for rote counting.

However, I observed that when my son is rote counting he’s having difficulty remembering the sequence from number 11 to 19.  The numbers in the 20s and 30s are easier for him to count. That’s when I realized I need to use Montessori Teen Board to help him understand and remember the numbers from 11 to 19.

How to Introduce the Montessori Teen Board

1.    First gathers all the materials that you need

✯   Montessori Bead Stairs

✯  Montessori Ten Bars (or the golden beads)

✯  Cards or print out of numbers one to ten (optional)

✯  DIY Montessori Teen Board.

2.    You can start by laying out the numbers 1 to 10 with the corresponding Montessori bead stairs but if your child is already confident and familiar with counting the beads you just go ahead and proceed to step three. 

3.    I introduced the teen boards by counting a ten bar first then adding the number 1 bead and count it as eleven. After that, put the number 1 print out on top of the zero to make the first 10 looks like 11. Then repeat the process to the other numbers until you reach number 19.

As with any counting activities with children, we need to lower our expectations. Do not expect the children to get what we are showing them right away.

Sometimes they need more time to process everything, especially with counting numbers. Just keep modeling using the materials and wait for them to be interested. Try not to hover around them so much when they are working but just be on the lookout in case they ask for help.  

Also, make sure your child is ready for this activity by observing them. In that way, it will not be frustrating for either the parents or the child. Counting numbers need not be stressful for children and adults, it should be fun!

As for my son and me, I must say that we enjoyed the first time we tried this activity. At first, I thought we will never finish because he might get tired counting along the way. But we finished! In fact, he even asked for the number 20 indicating he wants to count more. Sometimes it's better to lower the expectations to avoid frustrations or better have no expectations at all and just enjoy and follow the child. 

Now this DIY Montessori Teen Boards along with other counting activities essentials are on our shelves ready for my son to use when he feels like it. Truth be told, my son keeps working on it by himself every day. You can watch some videos of our activities and how we work on this material on my Instagram click here.