Free worksheets · Kindergarten
What Number Comes Before? Counting to 10 Worksheet
Read each short run of numbers and write the missing number that comes first on the blank line.
Free printable
What Number Comes Before? Counting to 10
12 questions, one page, US Letter. Print it and do it on paper.
On the sheet: Write the number that comes before, one lower than the first number you see.
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About this worksheet
Each of the 12 questions is a few numbers in counting order with a blank line at the start, like ____, 6, 7, 8. The child writes the number that comes just before, one less than the first number shown.
Counting backward is harder than counting forward for most young children. Finding the number before is the first step toward counting back, which a child later uses to take away 1.
A worked example
____, 6, 7, 8
- Read the numbers you can see: 6, 7, 8.
- The blank comes before 6, so you need the number one less than 6.
- Count up to check: 4, 5, 6. The number just before 6 is 5.
- Write 5 on the line.
Answer: 5, 6, 7, 8
The common mistake
What it looks like: Writing the number after instead, so ____, 6, 7, 8 gets a 9 or a 7.
Why it happens: Children are used to counting forward, so "next" feels like "one more" even when the blank is at the start.
How to fix it: Read the run with the blank out loud: "Something, 6, 7, 8." Ask which number you say just before 6 when you count. Counting up from 1 to the first number shown and stopping one before it works too.
Ten minutes a day, on paper. We plan what comes next.
A printed page and a pencil. No screen, no login for your child. Snap a photo when they’re done: AI scores it, and what they missed comes back on the sheets that follow.
- Mon What Number Comes Before? Counting to 10
- Tue What they missed, back again
- Wed The next step, when they’re ready
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