Easy Street — Lesson 17: Taking away the top bead

What your child does, card by card

Taking away the top bead. Minus 5. PlayType opens the lesson: “To take away five, send the top bead back up.”

8 − 5 = 3: start at 8. Send the top bead up. The abacus makes 8, then clears. Here the hands lead: they show 8 and 3, and a moment later the beads copy each one. Each label lights in turn: “Start at 8”, “− 5: the top bead” and “= 3”. After the show, the child can touch: “Tap the top bead to try it.”

First a reminder (“9 − 5”): the beads build 9 and 4, ring by ring, while your child watches. The top bead goes up.

Try it: your child works out 8 - 5, 9 - 5, 6 - 5 and 5 - 5, with a green ring on the next bead to move.

Then a short practice without rings: work out 7 - 5, 5 - 5, 8 - 5 and 9 - 5, each round starting from its own number.

Then the beads hide and the sums 8 - 5, 9 - 5 and 6 - 5 are done in the head, the answer shown on the fingers.

You're ready! You can take away 5 with the top bead.

What this lesson trains

About five minutes and 11 answers. Altogether the child makes 8 bead moves (8 with the top bead, 0 with bottom beads). Clearing comes up 2 times. The work stays at 9 or below, on one rod. Then 3 quick looks in your head.

Your child’s first moves: work out 8 - 5, 9 - 5, 6 - 5 and 5 - 5.

Fingers and hands

Below the abacus the drawn hands show zero and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 here, finger for bead.

On “8 − 5 = 3” the hands move first and the beads follow, so your child sees that a finger and a bead move together: open a finger and a bead goes to the bar, close it and the bead goes back.

What PlayBuddy and PlayType say

PlayType: “To take away five, send the top bead back up.”

PlayType: “To take away, move beads off the bar.”

Stars

Three stars for up to 1 slip in 11 answers, two stars for up to 2.