Subitizing is an important skill that helps lay the foundation of understanding wholes and parts, which evolves into addition, subtraction, and later multiplication and division. In this episode, we’ll discuss the two types of subitizing, dig into ways we can encourage these skills, and understand the natural progression of subitizing skills to follow with your students. Sound good? The press play!

In this episode, we explore how the ability to instantly recognize quantities without counting supports deep mathematical understanding. This foundation matters not just in the moment, but across a child’s development. From early number sense to part-whole relationships and fluency with operations, subitizing lays critical groundwork.

We take a closer look at how these ideas unfold over time, how to support them intentionally, and how to spot what your students’ strategies reveal about their understanding and fluency development.

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Have you ever stopped to think about just how many math facts there are? If you consider all four operations, there are hundreds of math facts for students to learn. Students need to learn strategies to solve math facts and develop a conceptual understanding of the operation as opposed to relying on memorization!

In this episode, we continue our fluency series by exploring what makes subtraction uniquely challenging, and how students gradually move from early counting strategies to more efficient, reasoning-based approaches.

You’ll hear how subtraction fluency develops over time, why memorization falls short, and how to help students build flexible, lasting understanding while still honoring where they’re starting. This episode sets the stage for a deeper, more meaningful approach to subtraction within 10 and 20.

Want to learn more? Let’s go!

Links mentioned in this episode:

✅NCTM’s The Five Fundamentals

More from us:

👉 Follow us on Instagram @meaningfulmathco

⭐️ SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a minute to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. With your support, we can reach even more teachers looking to make math meaningful for their students. Thank you!