Counting with coloured blocks

by Geoff
(Australia)

When I went to school in the 1960's we had coloured* blocks that represented one through to 10.

We used those blocks in almost every simple maths problem presented and it helped me to learn. Boys tend to learn better when they have something in their hands - something to keep their hands busy while their brain gets around to catching up.

The colours and numbers stuck with me for a long time and I wonder if they are still in use in schools today.