Some people might say differently, but my philosophy has always been to allow kids the opportunity.  We might think they aren’t ready for something but they might actually be.  If I only give them a 5 bead rack, it limits their opportunities to make connections to larger quantities.  I’m not forcing them to work with larger numbers than 5 but some kids might naturally and some kids may not work with larger than 5, but they might notice things about the beads and the arrangements.  So my thought is Why Not???  If you notice a kid being distracted by having too many beads on the rack then give just that kid a rack with only 5.

>>>>>Christina