From Counting to Mathematical Structure

The most important aim of mathematics education is to promote mathematical thinking. In the Hong Kong primary school, mathematical thinking is usually conducted through the use of formula and working on "application problem" or "word problems". However, there are many other ways that can promote mathematical thinking, and investigation on mathematical structure by using counting is one important source for promoting mathematical thinking for primary school children, as every children can count and hence a well designed question that can be solved by counting can enable children of different abilities to work together and obtain different results.