Counting All the Way to 100

Now you are ready for a big challenge: counting all the way to 100! One hundred is a big number, but there is a pattern that makes it easy. Once you see the pattern, you will be counting to 100 like a pro.

The decade numbers

First, learn to count by tens. These are called the decade numbers:

ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, one hundred

The pattern inside

After each decade number, the ones come back again: twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three… all the way to twenty-nine. Then a new ten starts: thirty!

The hundred chart

A hundred chart shows the numbers from 1 to 100 in rows of ten. Here is the top of one:

The chart keeps going down until it reaches 100 in the bottom corner.

Patterns to notice

• Going across a row, each number is 1 more.
• Going down a column, each number is 10 more.
• Every number in the last column ends in 0: 10, 20, 30…

Tricky spots

Most children get stuck at the “turn-around” numbers, like 29, 39 and 49. What comes next? Look at the chart: after 29 comes 30. After 59 comes 60.

Example

Noah counted his steps to the park. “…forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine…” he stopped. “What’s next?” His dad pointed down the hundred chart. “Fifty!” said Noah, and kept going.

Key takeaways

• The decade numbers are 10, 20, 30 and so on to 100.
• After each decade, the ones 1 to 9 come again.
• On a hundred chart, across is 1 more and down is 10 more.
• After a number ending in 9, a new ten begins.

Practice

Fill in the missing numbers:

1. 27, 28, ___, 30
2. 58, 59, ___, 61
3. 40, 50, ___, 70

Answers: 1 is 29, 2 is 60, 3 is 60 (counting by tens).