When we teach maths to pre-schoolers we always teach them to add first and then to subtract. We also teach children to multiply and then we teach them to divide.

I think we would be better off reversing this order. The reason is simple, children find it easier to conceive of smaller rather than larger numbers. To teach a child to add any two numbers greater than 5 and you run out of fingers. But try teaching them to take 5 away from 9. They hold up 9 fingers and remove 5 and can see 4 left.

Similarly, you can do this with division. Children are good at dividing. We teach them to share all of the time. Division is the natural extension of this and it is some they care about. Multiplication on the other hand is very difficult.

I have tried this with my 5 year old. She can subtract and she can divide -- so much so that she knows what even and odd numbers are (and why they are called that) and can even work out if a number is prime. Finally, with division, teaching the time is easy -- she finally understood what a half and a quarter were.

I am not sure if there are any educational studies on this type of thing and would appreciate hearing about any. It would be a great thing if we could accelerate numeracy in society.

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