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🐇 Counting On and Counting Back

Learn to add by counting on from the bigger number and subtract by counting back — two simple strategies that work every time.

lessons

~15 min

to learn

🔢 Math

subject

Ages 6–12

level

Start the course →

What you’ll learn

Counting On to AddAdd small numbers by holding one number and counting on, like 7 + 3 = 8, 9, 10.Counting on means keeping the first number in your head and hopping forward from there. For 7 + 3, start at 7 and count 8, 9, 10. Never re-count the starting number, and always begin from the bigger number so you take fewer hops.
Counting Back to SubtractSubtract small numbers by counting back, like 11 - 3 = 10, 9, 8, and know when counting works best.To subtract, start at the big number and hop backwards once for each one you take away. For 11 - 3 the hops are 10, 9, 8, so the answer is 8. Counting on and back are best for small hops of 1, 2, or 3 — for bigger jumps, other strategies are faster.

Questions this course answers

To count on for 7 + 3, which numbers do you say?

You start AFTER 7, so the three counts are 8, 9, 10.

Which problem is a good one for counting on quick hops?

9 + 2 needs only two little hops: 10, 11.

Grounded in trusted sources

PBS Kids — early math
Khan Academy Kids
NAEYC — early math learning

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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