While early childhood education should introduce the concepts before the skills, teachers can begin the basics of adding and subtracting before children move into elementary school. The basic skills are used in normal childhood interactions, such as sharing cookies by subtracting from the original number to ensure the children have the same number of treats.

By focusing on the basics of adding and subtracting, teachers can provide a stronger foundation in math skills for the future. Depending on the age of children, the basics of adding and subtracting might limit the skills to sharing food items or adding items to play activities that encourage children to count the extra items.

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, teachers can make use of examples that arise during play activities to teach the ideas of adding or subtracting items. It is an opportunity to teach the skills without actively creating lesson plans that are too advanced for childhood literacy and knowledge.
Math helps us have better problem-solving skills
Math helps us think analytically and have better reasoning abilities. ... Reasoning is our ability to think logically about a situation. Analytical and reasoning skills are essential because they help us solve problems and look for solutions.
Math helps us think analytically and have better reasoning abilities.
Analytical thinking refers to the ability to think critically about the world around us. Reasoning is our ability to think logically about a situation. Analytical and reasoning skills are essential because they help us solve problems and look for solutions. While it may seem far-fetched to believe that solving the train problem above can help you solve a problem in your life, the skills that you use in framing the problem, identifying the knowns and unknowns, and taking steps to solve the problem can be a very important strategy that is applicable to other issues in life.