Grade 1 math: Counting to 100 and number order

If your child is in Grade 1, the topic "Counting to 100 and number order" is one of the ideas where confidence is most often won or lost. Here is what it means in plain words, a worked example you can follow together, and a few simple ways to help at home.

What Grade 1 children learn

• Count forward and back from any number, up to 100
• Say the number just before, just after and in between
• Use a number line and a hundred chart to find missing numbers

The key ideas

• Counting on means starting at a number and saying the next ones: 47, 48, 49, 50.
• Counting back goes the other way: 62, 61, 60, 59.
• Watch the turn at the tens: after 39 comes 40, and after 59 comes 60.
• On a hundred chart, one step right is 1 more and one step down is 10 more.

Quick examples

• Count on from 47: 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, so just after 49 comes 50
• Count back from 62: 62, 61, 60, 59, so just before 60 comes 59
• The number between 38 and 40 is 39
• On the hundred chart, the number right below 24 is 34, because going down one row is 10 more

A worked example

How to help at home

• Ask your child to explain the first step of the worked example in their own words before you show them anything.
• Work through the "Try it yourself" question together, and talk about why the answer makes sense.
• Spend a few minutes a day on the free Tutorizer "Counting and ordering numbers" practice. Short and regular beats long and rare.
• If a step feels shaky, go back to the key ideas above and use objects, drawings or a number line.

Try it yourself

Want a challenge?

Next steps