Combining two groups: simple addition
Maths · Early Years · The School
Putting groups together
Three toy cars in one pile. Two toy cars in another. Push them together into ONE pile. Now count them all: one, two, three, four, five. Five altogether. That pushing-together and counting is addition — you have just done it, with real toys, no writing needed.
Counting on
There is a faster way than counting from one every time. Start with the BIGGER group. You know it is three. Now count ON as you add the other two: "three… four, five." You land on five without recounting the first three. Counting on saves time once you trust it.
Writing comes later
The plus sign, +, is just a short way of WRITING what you already did with real objects. "3 + 2 = 5" says exactly the same thing as pushing three cars and two cars together and counting five. The objects and the counting come first. The writing is just a record of it.
Four counters in one hand. Three counters in the other. Tip them both onto the table, all mixed together. COUNTING FROM ONE: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Seven altogether. COUNTING ON instead: start at four (the bigger group), then count on three more: "four… five, six, seven." Same answer, seven, reached the faster way. Both methods work; counting on is quicker once the bigger group is already known.