There are many kinds of base ten blocks that you can purchase, but base ten blocks are not all the same and some are much more powerful than others. First off, make sure they ARE base ten blocks, I have seen block sets where they are base seven and even base three…where seven of the x are same as an x^2 or just three y are the same as the y^2, while still quite workable doing the larger problems becomes somewhat difficult because it takes too long to count out the units. This is very much akin to getting lost in computation…many students lose track of the problem they are doing because even if they understand the concepts they can’t do the math or it takes them a long time to do the math and they forget what they were doing or trying to solve in the first place.

Since 1990, I have taken on students of every skill level and age you can imagine, from 3 to 83, from those who could not yet count to those who just needed some brush up in preparation for calculus. A recurring theme among those students who are getting the poorest grades and that are saying they aren’t “getting it” is the inability to make tens (or nines).

The mathematics begins with counting. How do we teach counting? Start with patterning. Just say the numbers from one to five, then one to ten then ten to twenty. Repeatedly. Start with your fingers, at bed time is a good time but any time is fine.

The Five Basic Concepts: