Why is number so important?

In 2022, one of our focusses here at Lindisfarne Primary School will continue to be on number. Numbers are a crucial element in Mathematics as most other mathematical areas require a good understanding of number to develop a good understanding of them.

In primary school, students generally work within four of the Six Big Ideas in Number (see diagram below). In this article I’d like to share some ideas on how you can explore two of these Big Ideas at home, Trusting the Count and Place Value!

Trusting the Count

Activity for counting real world objects

How many buttons are on the remote? Can you point to them as you count them?

Activity for subitising (knowing how many without counting)

How many windows can you see? I can see 6 windows at the top (they look like 6 on a dice) and 1 on the bottom on the window on that house!

Activity for building mental objects (having a picture in your head of what a number looks like e.g. I know that 5 is 3 and 2)

I have put 4 forks on the table. I need to put 3 more on the table. How many will there be altogether once they are there?

Place Value

Activity for looking at digits

Using a set of playing cards to make a number and talk about the value of each digit. Ask the student to try and make the largest number or smallest number possible.

Activity for counting in 10s

Gather some money and ask how many altogether. Use the strategy of counting in tens to find out. To make this more challenging give them an amount and ask how much they would have if they added more tens (e.g. you have $4.25 how much would you have it you added 60c? Count in tens from $4.25 to find out)

Activity using number lines

Use a measuring tape from home to locate numbers on it. Talk about the location of numbers compared to other numbers. See if they can create their own number lines using blank paper.

You can also find some fantastic games with limited resources needed at https://www.lovemaths.me/games