Read the box of ten holes

What it looks like when your child can do it

• — Shown a box with the top row filled, your child says five right away, without touching each bean.
• — Your child fills holes the way you read, the top row from left to right first, then the bottom row.
• — Asked how many holes the box has when only three are filled, your child still says ten.

How to teach it at the kitchen table

1. 01

   Make a box from an egg carton

   A dozen-egg carton has two rows of six cups. Cut off the two cups at one end, and ten cups are left, two rows of five. Teachers often call this a ten frame. Your child only needs to call it the box of ten holes.

2. 02

   Count the holes, not the beans

   With the box empty, have your child touch every hole and count to ten. Put in three beans and count the holes again. Still ten, because empty holes still belong to the box.

3. 03

   Fill the top row first

   Always fill the way you read: the top row from left to right, then the bottom row. When every top hole has a bean, say together, a full top row is five.

4. 04

   Say five without counting

   Fill the top row while your child looks away, then let them look. The goal is to say five from the shape of a full row, not by counting each bean.

You will need: A dozen-egg carton cut down to two rows of five cups · Ten dried beans, buttons or pennies · Small counters like beans, buttons and pennies can choke a child, so stay at the table while they are out and put them away from younger children

Try it together

1. Try 1

   Fill the top row of the box with beans. Ask how many beans are in the box.

   Listen for  Five. Counting one by one is fine the first few times, but listen for five said quickly once the full row looks familiar.

2. Try 2

   Put two beans in the top row. Ask how many holes the box has.

   Listen for  Ten. Some children say two, because they count only the beans. Have them touch every hole, empty ones too.

3. Try 3

   Fill the top row and ask how many holes are still empty.

   Listen for  Five. The whole bottom row is empty, and a row always has five holes.

4. Try 4

   Hand your child four beans and ask them to put them in the box.

   Listen for  All four go in the top row, starting at the left, with one top hole left empty. Beans scattered across both rows means the filling order needs another look.

Watch for

• — Counting only the beans when you asked about holes. Ask "how many holes?" and "how many beans?" as two separate questions.

If it is not there yet

• — Go back to five on one hand. Hold up a full hand and say five, then put five beans in one row of cups to match.
• — Use a single row of five cups for a while, filling and emptying it, before adding the second row.

A few days of this is normal, and it is time well spent. The lesson will still be there, and it will go faster.

Where this skill comes up

• Zig and Zag Count to Twenty · Lesson 9

  Six

  Needs it because six is shown as five-and-one on that box, not as six scattered stamps only.