When I fetched Grace from school today Penny said very excitedly, “Did Grace show you what she did today?” and we all hurried off to the class room to see the exciting work she had been working on….the 1000 chain. After the hundreds board she started with the bead cabinet, and the 1000 chain is a set of 100 ten bars. A tens bar is a set of 10 unit beads put together on a bar. 10 units make a 10’s bar, ten 10’s make a hundred square, and ten 100’s squares make a 1000 cube.

The 1000 chain is a set of 10’s bars which they use to count from 1 through to 1000. After each 10 they write the number down and put down a tag, and after each 100 you put down a 100 square. Eventually you get to the 1000 cube at the end of the chain, with each set of ten marked with the total count. Grace got up to 700 today, and will be carrying on when she gets back to school on Monday. She has been working hard on her numbers and is really enjoying the new work and challenges.

Grace’s 1000 chain