We have been learning to count on to work out how many more we need.
Here is an example of the questions the children have been using counting on to work out the answer to:
There are 7 carriages on a train how many more do we need to make 10.
The children would use cubes to count out how many carriages we have. Then they would count on the carriages they needed using a different colour. So they would count 8, 9, 10. They would then count the carriages they have just added (in the second colour).
Once the children are able to do titis with cubes. They would go on to complete the question, pictorially. This means using a picture of the train and then drawing on the carriages they need.
Some children may be able to go on to do this by counting on in their heads. This is called ‘The Abstract’.