What is an indicator that a child needs support with addition and subtraction during an assessment?

• A. They can count to 100
• B. They do not complete patterns
• C. They do not understand addition and subtraction
• D. They understand patterns

Answer: (C)

The skill being assessed is whether a child understands and can use addition and subtraction. If a child does not grasp what adding or taking away means and cannot perform basic calculations, that clearly shows they need support in this area.

Counting to a high number shows counting fluency, but it doesn’t prove they understand how to combine quantities or subtract, which is what addition and subtraction require. Patterns are a different skill set related to recognizing sequences, not the ability to add or subtract. If a child understands patterns, that indicates strength in a different math area; if they don’t, it points to a broader pattern-recognition issue rather than specifically the arithmetic operations.

So the most direct indicator of needing support with addition and subtraction is that they do not understand those operations.