Small printed book by H. A. Thompson, 1967, London

Paperback book, stapled at centre. 57 pages of black and white printed text and diagrams, with colour-printed card cover. The cover (designed by John Wyatt) is mainly black and grey with a geometrical design in pinks and white, reminiscent of an arrangement of Colour-factor blocks.
The book has four chapters: Introduction, The First Steps, Pre-number Mathematics and Numbers and Basic Operations.
The book provides detailed instructions on how to introduce the method, including the teaching approach, layout of classroom and suggested instructions. Throughout, mathematical notation is used to describe patterns to be made with the blocks, rather than representative diagrams.
The Appendix focuses on the value of including blocks of length 11 and 12 units even after decimalisation. One is a (relatively) large prime, and the other is a complex product of many factors, not only valuable for monetary calculations.

Given by Mark and Julie Miller

A handbook for teachers using the Colour-Factor Set to teach mathematics in schools, this book offers a detailed theoretical introduction to ideas of 'hands on' mathematical teaching. Developed by Seton Pollock in the early 1960s, Colour-Factor used a system of brightly coloured blocks to teach number-sense to young children. This hands-on approach to mathematics had been initiated in the 19th century with Tillich's bricks, and subsequently developed by Frederich Froebel. Pollock's innovation was to create a set of blocks grouped by colour according to their factored relationships.
H. A. Thompson wrote a number of handbooks and workbooks providing practical Colour-Factor activities for the classroom.

B.321-2012