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Meramec Elementary School

Kindergarten - June Kay

Meet the Rekenrek

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What is a rekenrek?  Developed in Holland, this arithmetic calculating frame was designed to support the natural mathematical development of children.  As children work with rekenreks, they are able to generate a variety of addition and subtraction strategies.  Unlike worksheets and flashcards, the rekenrek supports young learners with the visual models they need to discover number relationships.  (Source:  Math Learning Center)

 
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The rekenrek features two rows of 10 beads, each broken into two sets of five.  Children begin to see the quantity of five as a whole.  One more makes six, one less is four.  Two sets of five equals 10, and soon.  We often begin our math workshops with “Rock the Rekenrek!”.  I slide over beads and ask, “How many? How do you know?”  The responses I might receive:  “It’s seven, because five plus two more is seven” -- or -- "It's nine because there was one bead left on the other side."


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We also play a game called "Show Me Two."  A number card from 2-10 is drawn, and the first player moves over the amount of beads on the rekenrek.  The second player must move over the beads in a different way.  For instance, if the number card is "7", Player #1 might move over two red and five white beads from the top row.  Player #2 might move over 1 bead from the top row and six beads from the bottom row.  The players then record their moves using mathematical symbols:  2 + 5 = 7 and 1 + 6 = 7.
 
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The School District of Clayton and National Common Core Standards include these indicators:  1.  Composes and decomposes (adds and subtracts) numbers less than or equal to 10 in more than one way; 2. Fluently adds and subtracts within 5; and 3. Works with numbers 11-19 to gain foundations for place value.  Our work with the rekenrek supports all three of these important skills.
 
 
Last Modified on January 11, 2013