In many schools one way they teach numeration and place value is with units, longs, flat, and long flats. These pierces help kids grasp how to add, subtract, multiply and division eventually. I remember using base 10 blocks in second grade. Using base 10 includes unit pieces symbolizing ones place or ones, longs are 10 units put together vertically. Flats are 10 longs put together, which concludes a 10×10 Lastly long-flat are 10 flats by 10 flats.
If we take the number 56- we would need 1 flat to show 50 and 6 units to show 6 making the number 56.
I think this is a great visual tool for kids to help them grasp the idea of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and subtraction.
Below I posted a Great video that shows how to use the base ten and how to add using the base 10 blocks. Below that is a picture of the units, longs, and flats.
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