From pictures to numbers
Young children understand addition as putting groups together long before they can work with symbols alone. Picture problems keep that meaning in front of them: two groups to count, then the same problem written as a number sentence. When they count confidently, switch to Numbers only.
Three steps up
- Within 5. Small groups children can see at a glance.
- Within 10. The facts that make ten, the base of later mental maths.
- Within 20. Adding to and taking from teen numbers.
Ready for more? The addition and subtraction worksheets go on to two- and three-digit numbers.
NCF and NCERT links
- LKGThe NCF-FS (C-8.6) has children putting two groups of up to 5 objects together and recounting the total.
- UKGChildren combine groups up to 9 and take out up to 9 objects, then count what is left.
- Class 1Children solve sums up to 18 and start using the + and − signs.
The NCF-FS describes this stage with everyday stories: two sweets with me, three with my sister, how many altogether? Tell the story of one problem aloud before children start, and let them use counters or seeds alongside the pictures.
The framework asks for counting, adding and taking away to be done with real objects and on paper side by side, so keep counters on the desk until children stop needing them.
Summarised in our own words from the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCERT, 2022).
