Primary 1 · Mathematics · First Term · Week 8
Now the numbers grow, and counters — stones, buttons, bottle tops — become genuinely useful. To solve 5 + 3: make a group of 5 counters, make a separate group of 3, push the two groups together, then count everything in the combined group: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.” The total is 8, so 5 + 3 = 8.
A number line works just as well: start at 5, hop forward 3 spaces, and land on 8.
Zero has a special job in addition — it never changes the number it’s added to. Any number plus zero equals that same number. If you have 4 toys and get 0 new toys, you still have exactly 4 toys: 4 + 0 = 4.
Read carefully, find the two numbers being combined, and add them. Example: “Ada has 6 yams in a basket. Her mother adds 2 more. How many yams are in the basket now?” Numbers: 6 and 2. Operation: adding, since more is being put in. Solution: 6 + 2 = 8 yams.
For 6 + 4, hold up 6 fingers on one hand and 4 on the other — count all fingers together to get 10. Noticing that 6 needs 4 more to reach a full ten is a strategy that pays off again and again in later maths.