Many children come to Satchel Learning because they are struggling with maths. During their free Starting Satchel meeting, we often notice the same issue: they rely heavily on their fingers to solve even simple problems like 4 + 3 or 8 – 5.
Finger counting is often encouraged in the early years of school as a way to visualise number facts. However, for many children, this habit sticks — and it quickly becomes a barrier to progress.
Why Finger Counting Is a Problem
Finger counting may seem helpful at first, but over time it causes children to:
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Slow down significantly when doing calculations
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Make more mistakes (e.g. miscounting fingers)
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Struggle to recognise patterns and connections in numbers
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Become less confident as maths gets harder
If left unchecked, finger counting makes future topics like column subtraction or two-digit multiplication even more difficult. How many finger-counting steps would that take?
What We Do Instead at Satchel Learning
Just like we expect children to memorise their times tables, we believe it’s vital that they know all their number bonds by heart.
We teach students to:
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Use reversal (e.g. knowing that 2 + 8 is the same as 8 + 2)
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Spot patterns using multiplication facts (e.g. 7 × 2 = 14, so 8 + 7 = 15)
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Apply inverse operations (e.g. if 3 + 5 = 8, then 8 – 5 = 3)
Alongside these techniques, we give children plenty of targeted practice to help them break the finger-counting habit.
Confidence Through Fluency
The longer a child relies on finger counting, the harder it can be to break. But with the right support, children of any age can overcome it — and when they do, their confidence often returns rapidly. At Satchel, we see time and again how moving beyond finger counting can set a child up for long-term success in maths.
