Information for parents
Counting down is an early arithmetical strategy. To answer a question such as, “I have 9 and I remove 3, how many remain?” the student says “Nine, …eight, seven, six,… six!”. This strategy is described as counting down from a number. A similar use of counting backwards, or counting down, often appears when students solve questions where the subtrahend (the number being taken away) is missing. When responding to the question, “ I have 9 and I remove some, 6 remain. How many did I remove?” the student knows in advance the number to which he or she is counting. The student may say, “Nine,…eight, seven, six,…three!” This strategy requires keeping track of the backward counts and is described as counting down to a number.
Activities to help with counting down
Counting down is an early arithmetical strategy. To answer a question such as, “I have 9 and I remove 3, how many remain?” the student says “Nine, …eight, seven, six,… six!”. This strategy is described as counting down from a number. A similar use of counting backwards, or counting down, often appears when students solve questions where the subtrahend (the number being taken away) is missing. When responding to the question, “ I have 9 and I remove some, 6 remain. How many did I remove?” the student knows in advance the number to which he or she is counting. The student may say, “Nine,…eight, seven, six,…three!” This strategy requires keeping track of the backward counts and is described as counting down to a number.
Activities to help with counting down
The children need to count down quickly. This is a good game to play.
See how quickly you can count back 2.
See how quickly you can count back 2.
This is the old favourite "Ten Green Bottles", but you can change it to any number.
Great fun to sing together!
Great fun to sing together!
| Practise your counting skills. Can you count from 20 down to 1? |