Skip-Counting by 5s, 10s, and 100s

Counting by ones is slow. Counting in equal jumps is faster and just as exact.

By fives

5, 10, 15, 20. Every jump is the same size.

By tens and hundreds

By tens: 30, 40, 50. By hundreds: 200, 300, 400. Only one digit changes each time.

You can start anywhere. From 240, counting by tens gives 250, 260, 270.

Skip-counting is counting in groups

When you count 5, 10, 15, 20 you are not skipping anything — you are counting groups of five. Each number you say is the running total so far. That is why skip-counting leads straight into multiplication later.

The patterns in the digits

Counting by 10s changes only the tens digit: 130, 140, 150. Counting by 100s changes only the hundreds digit: 130, 230, 330. Counting by 5s alternates ending in 5 and 0. Noticing these patterns lets you continue a count without adding each time.

Skip-counting backwards

You can skip-count down as well as up: 300, 290, 280, 270. This is subtraction in disguise and it is the skill you will use for counting change and for taking away tens quickly. Practise both directions — going down is harder and gets less practice.