Math · 7 rungs
The math ladder.
Each ability builds the next one, naturally. Find the rung your child is on: read its "ready to start when" list, and if they can already do its "ready to move on" list, go up one.
- 1 Counting and number senseKnowing what numbers mean: saying them in order, giving one number to each thing, and seeing how many at a glance.
- 2 AdditionPutting groups together and finding out how many there are altogether. Your child starts by pushing real things into one pile and ends up just knowing that 7 and 3 make 10.
- 3 Addition and subtractionTaking away, finding the difference, and seeing that subtraction is addition read backwards.
- 4 Place valueWhy the 2 in 25 means twenty: grouping in tens, and using that to add and subtract bigger numbers.
- 5 Adding, subtracting, multiplyingMultiplication as equal groups: seeing 4 × 3 as four groups of three, and building the times tables from facts your child already knows.
- 6 All four operationsDivision as sharing and as making groups, bigger multiplying, and choosing the right operation for any problem.
- 7 Fractions, decimals, moneyEqual parts of a whole, and where they show up every day: sharing a pizza, measuring flour, paying at the store.