Doubling simply
Maths · Early Years · The School
The same amount again
DOUBLING means making a second group. It has to MATCH the first group. Then you put them together. Double 2 is 2, and another 2. That makes 4. It is not 2 plus a little bit extra. It is the whole amount, copied once more, then added on.
Doubling with fingers
Hold up two fingers on one hand. Now hold up two fingers on the other hand. They match. Count them all: one, two, three, four. Double 2 is 4. Now try double 3. Three fingers on each hand. Six fingers, altogether. Your two hands are a doubling machine, built right in.
Not the same as "one more"
One more than 4 is 5. You just add one single extra. Double 4 is 8. You add a WHOLE second group of four. These two sound similar. Both make the number bigger. But doubling adds far more than one more does. Never mix the two up.
Four counters in a row. DOUBLE 4: make a matching row of four counters underneath. Count both rows together. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Double 4 is 8. ONE MORE THAN 4: add just one extra counter to the first row. Count again. One, two, three, four, five. One more than 4 is 5. Same start, four both times. But 8 and 5 are very different answers.