Which numbers can children count by?

2s, 3s, 5s and 10s, or Mixed for a different step on every row.

Do the patterns always start at zero?

No. They start at different multiples, so children have to find the step from the numbers they can see.

Why practise skip counting?

It is the start of multiplication: counting by 5s is the 5 times table.

Skip Counting Worksheets: Count by 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s

From counting to times tables

Skip counting builds the patterns children later need for multiplication and division. When it is fluent, move on to the multiplication worksheets.

CAPS links

Grade 1Counts forwards in 2s, 5s and 10s up to 100.
Grade 2Counts forwards and backwards in 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 10s between 0 and 200, starting from any multiple.
Grade 3Uses the same steps up to 1 000, and adds counting in 20s, 25s, 50s and 100s.

CAPS treats skip counting as mental mathematics and as the first number patterns. It also asks for counting from any multiple, not just from zero, and from Grade 2 for counting backwards as well, so after the sheet, count back down the same pattern aloud.

South African money makes good apparatus: count R2 coins in 2s, R5 coins in 5s and R10 notes in 10s. CAPS links counting in steps to the times tables, so counting in 4s in Grade 2 prepares the ground for the 4 times table.

Summarised in our own words from the DBE’s Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Mathematics, Foundation Phase (2011).