From counting to times tables
Skip counting builds the patterns children later need for multiplication and division. When it is fluent, move on to the multiplication worksheets.Irish curriculum links
- NumerationThe Numeration and counting continuum includes skip counting in twos, fives and tens from a given number, with objects, pictures and spoken counting.
- PatternsAlgebra: Patterns, rules and relationships. The Stage 2 outcome names number sequences that grow or shrink by a rule.
- 3rd–4th ClassAt Stage 3, multiplication is introduced as equal groups and repeated addition, which is skip counting written down.
Irish children often meet counting in twos and tens through rhymes, games and the 100 square long before a worksheet. The NCCA’s home-learning ideas suggest passing a ball back and forth while counting in twos or fives, which makes a good warm-up for this sheet.
Children learn Irish alongside English from Junior Infants, so try the same patterns as Gaeilge: a dó, a ceathair, a sé for counting in twos. Saying a sequence in a second language makes children think about the step, not just recite.
Summarised in our own words from the Primary Mathematics Curriculum (2023) and the NCCA Mathematics Toolkit.
