Week 5 of 8
Week 5
Kindergarten → 1st Grade · Subtraction within 5 and Letter recognition
Math
Subtraction Within 5
Taking a small amount away and naming what is left, starting from 5 or less. Mid-kindergarten, shortly after addition within 5.
The mistake to watch for. Reading 5 − 2 as 2 − 5 and answering 3 by chance, then reading 2 − 5 the same way. The order of the numbers is not yet felt as meaningful.
How to help. Say the problem as a story every time: "You had five. Two went away." The story fixes the order.
A worked example
Try 5 − 2. Hold up 5 fingers and put 2 down. Three are left, so 5 − 2 = 3.
Reading & language
Letter Recognition
Naming and matching all 26 letters in both uppercase and lowercase. Throughout kindergarten, usually the very first reading skill taught.
The mistake to watch for. Confusing letters that are mirror images of each other — b/d and p/q are the two that trip up almost every child.
How to help. Have your child trace the letter while saying a keyword: "b — ball, the loop faces the ball." Motor memory settles this faster than looking alone.
A worked example
Circle every 'b' in: d b p b q. Look closely — 'b' has its stick on the left and its round belly on the right. Two of these letters are b.
Words for this week
- subtract
- To take one number away from another to find how many are left.
- minus
- The sign ( − ) that means take away.
- difference
- The answer you get when you subtract.
- left
- What remains after some are taken away.
- equal
- The same amount. The sign = means "is equal to".
- letter
- One of the symbols we use to write words, like a, b or c.
- alphabet
- All the letters of a language in their order, from A to Z.
- capital
- A big letter like A or B, used to start a sentence or a name.
- lowercase
- A small letter like a or b.
- uppercase
- A big letter like A or B.
Read this week
Mimas
A short space article from our Learn library, chosen for this reading level. Read it together, then ask your child to tell you one new thing they learned.