Free worksheets · Kindergarten
What Number Comes Before? Counting to 20 Worksheet
Read a short run of numbers, like ____, 6, 7, 8, and write the number that comes before on the blank line.
Free printable
What Number Comes Before? Counting to 20
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 short run of counting numbers up to 20 with a blank at the start. The child writes the number just before the first number shown, which is one less.
Counting back is harder than counting forward, and it is what subtraction will need. Finding the number before 10 or before 20 is the toughest part, because the first digit changes.
A worked example
____, 6, 7, 8
- Read the numbers aloud: 6, 7, 8.
- Each number is one more than the one before, so the blank is one less than 6.
- Count back from 6 by one: 5.
- Write 5 on the blank line.
Answer: 5, 6, 7, 8
The common mistake
What it looks like: Writing the number after instead of before, like 9 for ____, 6, 7, 8, or 21 before 18, 19, 20.
Why it happens: Children are used to the next number and finish the pattern at the end of the run instead of the start.
How to fix it: Point to the blank and say "this one comes first." Then count up from it to check: 5, 6, 7, 8.
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 20
- Tue What they missed, back again
- Wed The next step, when they’re ready
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