Addition and Subtraction (age 5)

Exercise: I wrote addition and subtraction expressions using small numbers on cups and hid the same number of peanuts of fruit snacks underneath each cup.  Benny gets to eat the contents if he can guess the right number.  I started off with very simple addition (e.g. 1+1, 1+0) then moved to more difficult addition (e.g. 2+2, 3+2) and then to simple subtraction (1-0, 2-1) and then to more difficult subtraction (e.g. 5-3, 4-2).

Note: Benny had previously learned some addition through flash cards and a YouTube video.  He had also had some exposure to subtraction by "subtracting"/eating small food items.

Results: Awesome! Before he started kindergarten, Benny understood the concepts of addition and subtraction as well as the symbols for both.  Using his fingers, he is able to add two small numbers (< 5) and to subtract 0 and 1 from small numbers successfully.  He still struggles with larger numbers.