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Teaching number in primary classrooms is about far more than counting or memorising facts — it’s about building number sense. When students understand how numbers work, relate, and grow, they can apply this knowledge confidently to every area of mathematics.

The A+ Teacher Club Guides to Teaching help teachers unpack the Number Strand of the mathematics curriculum step by step. Created by numeracy coach Vikki Longthorn, these guides show teachers what to teach, when to teach it, and how to develop deep understanding so students can reason, calculate, and problem-solve with confidence.

Part of the How to Teach Maths in Primary Classrooms series.

What Is the Number Strand About?

The Number Strand focuses on how students understand and work with numbers — their meanings, relationships, and operations.
It explores correspondence, magnitude, and order, forming the basis for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Students learn to:

• Count, recognise, and represent numbers in different ways.
• Compare and order numbers by size and value.
• Develop flexible mental strategies for calculation.
• Apply operations to real-life situations such as measuring, sharing, and using money.
• Understand properties and relationships between numbers.

As students progress, they move from manipulating physical objects to reasoning abstractly about number relationships, patterns, and operations.

Why Teaching Number Matters

Developing number sense is fundamental for mathematical confidence, financial literacy, and everyday reasoning.
Explicit teaching of number concepts helps students:

• Use efficient mental and written strategies for computation.
• Recognise connections between operations.
• See patterns and relationships that link mathematical ideas.
• Apply quantitative reasoning in measurement, data, and problem-solving contexts.

When teachers model thinking aloud, ask purposeful questions, and use consistent representations, students develop strong mental images of how numbers work.

How the Number Strand Connects to the Curriculum

Mathematics in the Australian Curriculum v9 is organised into six interrelated strands — Number, Algebra, Measurement, Space, Statistics, and Probability.
The A+ Teacher Club Guides to Teaching Number align directly with this structure, showing how to teach each concept systematically from Foundation through Year 6.

Across these years, students:

• Build number sense through counting, subitising, and partitioning.
• Develop fluency with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
• Extend understanding of place value, patterns, and relationships.
• Use estimation, rounding, and mental computation to solve problems.

Each guide links content to practice through clear learning progressions, success criteria, and explicit teaching examples.

For full curriculum details, see the Australian Curriculum Mathematics Overview.

Mathematics Manipulatives for Teaching Number Concepts

Hands-on materials are essential for developing deep understanding. Manipulatives allow students to see and touch mathematical ideas before moving to symbols.

Recommended manipulatives for teaching number:

• Counters & Unifix Cubes — for counting, grouping, and equal sharing.
• Ten Frames & Rekenreks — for subitising and number combinations.
• Base-Ten Blocks — for modelling place value, addition, and subtraction.
• Number Lines & Hundred Charts — for sequencing, skip-counting, and estimating.
• Dominoes & Dice — for patterns, probability, and fact fluency.
• Play Money & Coins — for addition, subtraction, and financial literacy.
• Fraction Tiles & Circles — for connecting part-whole relationships.

Use these consistently from Foundation–Year 2 to build strong mental models before moving to pictorial and abstract representations.

Using Picture Books to Teach Number Concepts

Picture books provide engaging contexts for exploring numbers while developing mathematical language. They help students connect maths to their everyday experiences.

Recommended titles include:

• Anno’s Counting Book – Mitsumasa Anno – visual exploration of number, quantity, and pattern.
• Ten Black Dots – Donald Crews – ideal for counting, addition, and creativity.
• The Doorbell Rang – Pat Hutchins – introduces division and equal sharing.
• One Is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab – April & Jeff Sayre – reinforces skip-counting and multiplication.
• How Big Is a Million? – Anna Milbourne – develops place-value and magnitude understanding.
• Two of Everything – Lily Toy Hong – explores doubling, multiplication, and pattern recognition.

Incorporate these texts into maths rotations, storytime, or inquiry lessons to connect literacy and numeracy meaningfully.

Common Student Difficulties in the Number Strand

Students often develop misconceptions as they transition from concrete to abstract thinking.
Typical challenges include:

• Counting errors – skipping or double-counting items; weak one-to-one correspondence.
• Place value confusion – reading 42 as “4 and 2” instead of “four tens and two ones.”
• Over-reliance on counting by ones – difficulty using known facts efficiently.
• Misunderstanding inverse operations – not recognising how addition relates to subtraction or multiplication to division.
• Symbol reversal or equals-sign misuse.
• Difficulty generalising patterns and relationships.

Address these through targeted questioning, explicit modelling, consistent visual representations, and opportunities for reasoning and discussion.

Achievement Standards in the Number Strand

Achievement standards describe what students are typically able to understand and do; they form the basis for reporting student achievement.
Each mathematics achievement standard is organised by strand, and students’ mastery of Number is judged against these descriptors.

The standard represents a satisfactory level of understanding — typically a C grade.
Teachers should note that some concepts are taught beyond the standard to extend learning; these do not form part of formal reporting.

Teaching number in primary classrooms begins with building strong number sense—the foundation of all mathematical understanding.
The A+ Teacher Club How to Teach Number Concepts Guides are organised by year level, helping teachers unpack the curriculum and teach number step by step — from counting and comparing quantities in the early years to working confidently with fractions, decimals, and operations in later grades.

Each guide aligns with the Australian Curriculum v9, addresses common student misconceptions, and builds teacher confidence through clear, concept-based instruction.

Explore the complete How to Teach Number Concepts Guides by Year Level to make number teaching clear, connected, and engaging.