Mathematics Mathematical Thinkingusually ages 5–6

Showing Your Working

Show and tell how a mathematical answer was found using objects, drawings, and spoken words

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Use objects or drawings to demonstrate how an addition or subtraction was solved
Respond to 'how do you know?' by pointing to objects or a drawing and describing what was done
Listen to a peer's explanation and say whether they agree or disagree

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Try this together

After your child solves a maths problem, can they explain how they got their answer — using counters, a drawing, or words — rather than just writing down the final number?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Listening and respondingages 4–11Explaining mathematical reasoning orally requires basic listening and responding skills

Number bonds to 9ages 4–6Explaining how to find number bonds to 10 exercises showing thinking with objects

Numbers up to 10 into pairsages 4–6Explaining part-part-whole decompositions exercises showing and telling

Showing Your Workingthis skill · ages 5–6

Unlocks

Explaining Mathematical Reasoningages 6–7Age 6-7 explaining with diagrams/logic builds on age 5-6 showing and telling with objects

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).

Show candidate curriculum codes · 3 ACARA · 2 NSW · 1 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9M2A02medium confidenceYear 2 · Algebra

recall and demonstrate proficiency with addition facts to 20; extend and apply facts to develop related subtraction facts

AC9M1N05low confidenceYear 1 · Number

use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving additive situations, including simple money transactions; represent the situations with diagrams, physical and virtual materials, and use calculation strategies to solve the problem

AC9M2A01low confidenceYear 2 · Algebra

recognise, describe and create additive patterns that increase or decrease by a constant amount, using numbers, shapes and objects, and identify missing elements in the pattern

NSW syllabus codes & stages only

MAO-WM-01medium confidenceMathematics K-10 · Early Stage 1, Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3

MAE-DATA-01low confidenceMathematics K-10 · Early Stage 1

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2M2A02low confidenceMathematics · Level 2 · Algebra strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Early Maths Vocabularyages 5–6 Finding efficient methodsages 5–6 Hands-On Problem Solvingages 5–6 Making Sense of Problemsages 5–6

All Mathematical Thinking skills →