I think my problem is that if you inversely asked why those are true, my answer would be “because 3 is smaller than 10”.
I think I’d just write something like “1+1+1=3, 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1=10, there are clearly more 1s in 10”. But that also just feels like a “because i am defining 3 and 10 this way” = “because it is”.
I would hope anything somewhat sensible would be correct here anyway, since it’s more about making the child think about their answer than anything.
I think my problem is that if you inversely asked why those are true, my answer would be “because 3 is smaller than 10”.
I think I’d just write something like “1+1+1=3, 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1=10, there are clearly more 1s in 10”. But that also just feels like a “because i am defining 3 and 10 this way” = “because it is”.
I would hope anything somewhat sensible would be correct here anyway, since it’s more about making the child think about their answer than anything.