The first mathematical question a child encounters is quantity. In order for a child to recognize “how much?” or “how many?” the child must attain a certain intellectual maturity. Teachers must follow the child and present activities that the child is interested in and ready to learn. Dr. Montessori discovered that if a child is able to count from 1 to 9, that child can just as easily count from 10 to 90. All of the mathematical materials are based on this concept, and all of the materials are broken into units of 10 which can be easily combined to form numbers in the hundreds and thousands. The materials correlate intricately so that the same 10 unit concept is used throughout each activity. Children learn to articulate mathematical processes through practice, teaching peers and teacher support.