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How to Teach Addition to Kindergarten

How to Teach Addition to Kindergarten

Teach addition by acting it out. Put three toys down, add two more, and count how many there are now. Then write it as 3 + 2 = 5. Start with sums up to 5, then 10. Move from counting all the toys to counting on from the bigger number, and only then to sums with numbers alone.

1Act it out first

Addition means putting groups together. Show it with things: three apples and two more apples. How many apples now?

Children understand the plus sign much better after they have seen it happen with real things.

2Count all, then count on

At first your child counts every toy: one, two, three, four, five. Later, show counting on: start at three and count two more, four, five.

Counting on is faster and leads to knowing sums by heart.

A worksheet page from Addition to 10
A page from Free Addition to 10 Worksheets. You can print 3 pages free.

3Pictures, then numbers

Worksheets with pictures to count are the step between toys and numbers. Your child counts the pictures, then writes the answer.

Sums with numbers only come when counting pictures is easy.

4Facts to know by heart

Over time, sums such as 2 + 2 and 5 + 5, and the pairs that make 10, become known by heart. Short daily practice helps more than long sessions.

Many US schools expect kindergarteners to add and take away within 10 by the end of the year.

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Quick tips

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Printables that help

Good questions

What addition should a kindergartener know?

Many US schools expect adding and taking away within 10, and sums within 5 quickly, by the end of kindergarten.

Should my child use fingers to add?

Yes, at first. Fingers are a tool. Knowing facts by heart comes later with practice.

When should subtraction start?

Soon after adding, also with real things: five apples, eat two, how many left?

My child can count but not add. Why?

Adding needs counting to be easy first. Practice one touch, one number, then act sums out.

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