Math Manipulatives

from Calvert School

Reviewed by Martha Robinson

Purchase details: Primary Math Manipulatives Kit ($185) and Intermediate Math Manipulatives Kit ($185), a math supplement by Calvert School.

Put simply, children learn better when they have hands-on activities. The people at Calvert School have put together a large selection of manipulatives designed to make math easier and more fun for young learners. Kits for two age ranges are available, and both kits may be purchased in the "Combined Manipulatives Kit."

Primary Math Manipulatives Kit

This kit is designed for children in kindergarten to third grade. A brief and basic lesson manual (20 pages organized by manipulative) offers some suggestions on how to use the manipulatives. An example topic or exercise, if applicable is shown below with the list of included items.

Color tiles of plastic -- patterning with the colors -- red, red, green, etc.
Pattern blocks of plastic-- puzzles -- "If a triangle = 1/2, what block = 1?"
Geoboard of 7" square plastic -- congruent shapes
Judy Clock of composite board, approximately 4" -- telling time
Tangrams, 4 plastic sets -- 8 shapes to duplicate
Dominoes, plastic with color dots in a box -- "Climb the Ladder" addition and subtraction game.
Base-Ten Blocks, red plastic (Ten 100s, twenty 10s, twenty ones, and 25 consumable mats for figuring) -- place value
Hundred Board, paper, 11.5" square -- counting
Balance, 2 piece plastic -- comparing mass
Cuisenaire Rods, plastic in box, 74 rods and tray with lid plus teachers guide -- fractions
Rainbow cubes, 100 3/8" in various colors -- use like color tiles
Flash cards made of paper in nice boxes. (Addition, subtraction, multiplication)
Thermometer, 5" with Fahrenheit and Celsius
Foam Geometric solids (cylinder, pyramid, cone, sphere, rectangular prism, cube) in various colors
Meter/yard stick, plastic folding
Unifix cubes, 35 total in three sizes, plastic

Intermediate Math Manipulatives Kit

This kit is designed for students in fourth to eighth grade. The lesson manual (38 pages) offers slightly more detail than the one for the "Primary" kit and is organized by topic. Some sample topics are as follows:

Dividing by 1-Digit Numbers (using base-ten blocks)
Equivalent Fractions (using fraction bars)
Decimals (using base-ten blocks)
Probability (using spinners, pattern blocks, die, etc.)
Geometry (using tangrams)
Capacity (using graduated cylinders and "volume relationship set")
Signed numbers (using algebra tiles)
Equations (using scale)

A list of the components of the kit is shown below:

Balance, 2 piece plastic
Base-Ten Blocks, red plastic (Ten 100s, fifty 10s, one hundred ones that connect to each other, 100 tenths, and one paper mat and one plastic mat for figuring) in a large plastic storage box
Color Spinner, plastic, 4.5" square
Cuisenaire Algebra Tiles
Fraction Bars, 49 thin plastic bars including halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, tenths, and twelfths
Geoboard, 9" square, plastic
"Decimeter Cube" -- paper, ready-to-be-folded base-ten 1000 cube
Graduated Cylinder set, 4 of various sizes, plastic
Multicolor Die, wooden, 5/8" square, different color on each side
Number Cube, plastic, 5/8" square, numbers 1-6 on sides
Number Spinner, plastic, 4.5" square
Fraction Circles, 9 circles, can be used on the overhead projector
Pattern Blocks, large bag, plastic
Tangrams, 1 set, plastic
Geometric shapes, clear plastic with one side open, called "volume relationship set," six pieces (cylinder, pyramid, cone, sphere, rectangular prism, cube)

Recommendation: Calvert School has put together an impressive group of manipulatives for elementary and middle school ages. While you could probably purchase the materials for a lower price with careful shopping, the kits offer the convenience of having everything to make math more understandable in one order with a nice storage box.

The lesson books offer some suggestions and ideas for using the materials. I would love to see the people at Calvert expand these with more specific exercises to use all of the materials. The activities in the "Intermediate" lesson manual are particularly interesting and left me wishing for more.

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