The Montessori Long Red Rods: Explanation & Presentation

If you're curious about the Montessori Long Red Rods, you've come to the right place.

I'm going to go over what this Montessori Sensorial material is and explain how to present it to a child.

This is great information for parents of children who attend a Montessori school or for parents and caregivers who are considering Montessori homeschooling.

So, let's get right to it.

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What are the Montessori Long Red Rods?

The Montessori Red Rods are a series of ten rods that increase in length by increments of 10 cm. They are classified as a Montessori sensorial material.

The Red Rods introduce the child to mathematical concepts like counting, length, the decimal system, and addition.

The basic presentation of this Montessori activity has the Red Rods placed from longest to shortest, like a stair.

What is the purpose of the Red Rods?

The purpose of the Montessori Long Red Rods is to help the child develop greater visual discrimination.

Why is visual discrimination important?

Visual discrimination is used for math, writing, reading, and everyday life.

Have you ever had someone ask you to give them an estimate of how far away one object is from another?

That's an example of visual discrimination.

How do you present the Montessori Long Red Rods?

1) Show the child how to retrieve the Red Rods from the shelf or holder.

Start with the shortest Red Rod. Make sure you point out that the shortest Red Rod can be carried with just one hand. (Likewise, show the child how you need to extend your arms to carry the longest Red Rods.)

2) Lay the Red Rods on a mat in random order.

3) Let the child know that you will be building a stair with them.

4) Compare the longest Red Rod to the others, then place it to the left of all the other rods.

5) Repeat this step with all the Red Rods until the stair is complete.

6) Randomly order the Red Rods and invite the child to try to make a stair.

7) When the child is through working with the Montessori Red Rods, show him how to return them to where they are kept.

8) Let the child know that they are now free to work with this material whenever they choose!

What if the child makes a mistake when lining up the Red Rods?

The only control of error with the Montessori Long Red Rods activity is the child's perception. This is unlike some other Montessori materials with built-in control of error.

If the child lines up the Long Red Rods in the incorrect order, do not correct him.

Dr. Montessori believed that correcting young children can damage their self-esteem. A child needs to be allowed to discover their errors.

This simply takes practice working with the material.

Children are going to make mistakes, but when they are free to observe and correct their own mistakes, this leads to increased self-confidence.

Of course, with practice, the child will learn to control their errors and master the activity. The mastery will be its reward!

So, don't correct and don't praise. Let your child discover their inner strength!

What other activities can be done with this material?

Multiple extensions can be done with the Red Rods.

The most popular extension is the maze. The cool thing about this extension is it becomes a lesson in balance and coordination and constructing something as complicated as a maze.

There are other activities you can do with the Montessori Red Rods, as well.

The Montessori Long Red Rods can be constructed vertically, like a stair. (In fact, this material is sometimes referred to as the Long Stair.)

For younger children, or children not yet familiar with this material, only 4 or 5 Red Rods can be used, instead of all ten.

A fun and challenging stereognostic exercise can be performed by placing a few Red Rods behind the child's back and having them construct a small stair without looking.

Following your initial presentation of the Red Rods, the smallest rod can be held at the end of each level of the stair to demonstrate to the child the difference in length of each Red Rod.

Are the Red Rods a math material?

Montessori Long Red Rods are classified as a sensorial material. This is due to the visual aspect of the Red Rods activities.

However, the link between math concepts and many of the Montessori sensorial materials is quite clear.

The Red Rods have the child work with dimension, weight, and patterns, and even prepare the child for future work with the decimal system.

Also, visual discrimination is essential for reading and writing!

Pretty neat for a series of 10 solid-colored sticks!

DIY Red Rods

You can make this material on your own with some lumber, a table saw, and some red paint. Just be sure to be precise in your measurements.

The Red Rods don't just need to correspond to each other in measurement, but much of the other sensorial and math materials are measured in those same increments.

Our set of Red Rods was handcrafted by my husband in a matter of hours.

I hope you enjoy these activities as much as we do! Purchase the Long Red Rods here.

What extensions do you enjoy with your Montessori Long Red Rods?

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