Counting Growth Points

The Counting growth points describe the pathway of key milestones of students’ construction of counting knowledge. At growth points 0 and 1, students use concrete materials to produce the forward number name sequence, transitioning to interpreting number names as quantities and beginning to represent and visualise quantities in growth points 2 and 3. At growth points 4 and above, students use imagery and abstract reasoning to count from any starting point and apply these skills in practical tasks.

To support students to move from concrete materials to representing and visualising, it is important to screen concrete materials to build students’ mental imagery and provide opportunities for students to explain their thinking and test their conjectures to build abstract reasoning and generalisations.

The following table provides teachers with a framework to identify the milestone a student is at on their counting pathway.