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Taking Away

Count what is left

Play this lessonNarrated out loud. No account, works offline.

Also available in Spanish. The app stops after two lessons a day and suggests something to do away from the screen.

What it teaches

These are the lines the lesson comes back to, and the ones a child actually remembers afterwards.

Count what is left. Not what left.

Adding: things show up. Taking away: things leave.

Taking away is counting the survivors.

How it starts

This is taking away. It is the opposite of adding. In adding, things show up. In taking away, some of them leave. And your job is always the same one job: count the ones that are still here.

How the lesson goes

Taking away, every time

  1. Count what you started with
  2. Take some away
  3. Count only what is still there

Your hands can do this

  1. Hold up the big number
  2. Put down the ones that leave
  3. Count what is still up

The question at the end

You have 6 crackers. You eat 1. How many are left?

For the grown-up

Every lesson ends by handing the child something to do off the screen, and telling you what was taught so you can use the same words.

Try this today: Put 7 toys in a line. Take 3 away and put them in the box. Count the ones still in the line, pointing at each.

Then: Tell a grown-up your number, then put the rest away too.

More in Math

The whole library is free

Twenty-four narrated lessons for ages 4 to 9, in English and Spanish. No account, no sign-up, no ads, and nothing your child does in the app ever leaves the device — you can check that yourself with the network tab open. Open the lessons.