Curriculum

• One bundle of 10 sticks, straws, or cubes
• 9 loose sticks or cubes
• Paper and marker

1. Step 1. Show the ten bundle and four loose sticks. Ask how many tens and how many ones.
2. Step 2. Say together: “One ten and four ones make fourteen.” Count all to confirm 14.
3. Step 3. Build 17 as one ten and seven ones, then 13 as one ten and three ones.
4. Step 4. Write one equation such as 10+4=14 under the model.
5. Quick check. Success means your child can show 14 as one ten and four ones, and can name the teen for a model such as one ten and nine ones (19).

Worked example. 14 = 10 + 4. 17 = 10 + 7. The first digit in a teen tells the ten; the second tells the extra ones.

Optional challenge. Hear “one ten and six ones,” say 16, and write 10+6=16 without seeing the sticks first; then check with the model.

What to notice. Save a photo of a ten-and-ones model or a parent note such as “14 = 1 ten + 4 ones.”