Spotting Patterns
Spot patterns and recurring structures — in numbers, words, nature, sounds, or events — and use them to make sense of new information
How to tell they’ve got it
Tick these off as you see them — no test required.
🖨 Print this page to keep the checklist — it prints beautifully.
Try this together
When your child notices a pattern — like a number pattern, a word ending, or something that keeps recurring — do they use it to figure out what comes next or predict something new?
Where this sits on the map
Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.
Builds on
Connecting New & Old Ideasages 7–8Spotting patterns across domains is an extension of the habit of connecting new ideas to existing ones
Spotting Patternsthis skill · ages 7–8
Unlocks
Describing Rules & Patternsages 8–9Generalising a rule requires first being able to spot the recurring pattern that the rule captures
Comparing Characters Across Storiesages 5–9Identifying patterns and similarities across texts is the reading form of the universal pattern-recognition habit
Different Accounts of the Same Eventages 6–8Recognising that accounts diverge in systematic ways — based on who is telling the story — is an application of the universal pattern-recognition habit
Patterns in Your Own Reactionsages 7–9Noticing recurring patterns in your own reactions is the PSD form of the universal pattern-recognition habit
Shape patterns (age 7+)ages 7–8Noticing place-value and operational structures in maths is the domain-specific application of the universal pattern-recognition habit
Using evidence to answer questionsages 7–9Identifying similarities, differences, and changes in scientific data is the science form of the universal pattern-and-structure recognition habit
solid = must come firstdashed = helps
Curriculum alignment
Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).
This skill aligns to ACARA’s General Capabilities rather than a learning-area code.