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.
In the New Zealand Curriculum
- First 6 monthsAddition and subtraction facts to 5, and the words add, join, take away and minus.
- Year 1Adding and subtracting by joining and separating groups up to 20, and basic facts to 10.
- Year 2Quick recall of addition facts to 20.
Crossed-out pictures match the way the curriculum describes early subtraction: separating a group and counting what is left. Within 5 suits the first six months of school, and Within 10 and Within 20 suit Year 1.
Read each problem aloud using the words from the first-six-months guide: “3 and 2 more” for adding, “5 take away 2” for subtracting. When those come quickly, move to Numbers only, which is where Year 2’s quick recall begins.
Summarised in our own words from the New Zealand Curriculum: Mathematics and Statistics, Years 0–8 (in effect from 2025), and the Ministry of Education’s year-by-year guide for parents and whānau.
