What each digit is worth
In 352 the 3 is worth three hundred, not three. Seeing that, and writing it, is the base of adding and subtracting with bigger numbers, regrouping included. These sheets go from counting blocks to writing numbers in expanded form, one small step at a time.
Three tasks
- Blocks. Count the flats, rods and cubes, then write the number.
- Tens and ones. 47 = 4 tens 7 ones; 352 = 3 hundreds 5 tens 2 ones.
- Expanded form. 352 = 300 + 50 + 2.
Next steps
Once place value is secure, move on to two-digit addition andsubtraction with regrouping.
NCF and NCERT links
- Class 1The NCF-FS (C-8.3) has children counting in groups of ten and seeing numbers up to 99 as tens and ones.
- Class 2Children read and write numbers to 99 using place value (C-8.5); NIPUN Bharat expects numbers up to 999 by the end of Class 2.
- Class 3NIPUN Bharat’s Class 3 target is reading and writing numbers up to 9999.
Bundles of ten ice-cream sticks or matchsticks tied with a rubber band work just like the rods on these sheets, and the NCF-FS asks for concrete objects like these before pen and paper.
This maker stops at three digits, so it does not cover the Indian system of lakhs and crores. When your class reaches bigger numbers, draw a place value chart with the Indian periods: ones, thousands, lakhs and crores. Indian commas come after the hundreds and then after every two digits, so 1234567 is written 12,34,567: twelve lakh, thirty-four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Summarised in our own words from the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCERT, 2022) and the NIPUN Bharat guidelines (Ministry of Education, 2021).
