Counting and Subitizing

Counting and subitizing forms the foundation for all mathematical understanding. Practicing these skills for 5 minutes each day will give your child a strong number sense and increased mathematical fluency.

Counting

We often stop teaching and practicing counting when students are successfully able to count to 100, but counting extends well beyond 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 .... Even intermediate and secondary students benefit from advanced counting practice.

Early Counting (Grades K-1)

    • Counting forwards

    • Counting forwards starting at random numbers

    • Counting backwards

    • Counting backwards starting at random numbers

Developing Counting (Grades 1-3)

    • Counting as before, but into the hundreds (or thousands for proficient children)

    • Skip counting by 2, 5, 10, 100

Proficient Counting (Grades 2+)

    • Skip counting by 3, 15, 25

    • Skip counting starting at random numbers (2, 5, 10)

    • Skip counting backwards (2, 5, 10)

    • Skip counting with a variety of values (like when we count coins)

Subitizing

Subitizing is the ability to quickly identify numbers, patterns of numbers, or portions of numbers, without having to count. When you roll a dice and say the number without counting the individual pips, that's subitizing. We also use subitizing when using fingers for math (ie. putting up 6 fingers without having to count them), tallying, skip counting, making sets of 10.

There are two types of subitizing:


Perceptual subitizing is the ability to look at a set and identify the amount or number without counting. This is the form of subitizing important to early years as students move from basic counting to more advanced math strategies.


Conceptual subitizing is the ability to recognize smaller groups within larger numbers. It is an important skill for using mental math strategies.