But you don't count zero!

It is a curious thing that several students this year (two Year 8 and one Year 11 and all from different schools) have told me that "you don't count zero". They have got the idea that "you skip the zero" because it doesn't count.

I picked up on this through discussing their incorrect answer when using the number line. Their answers were out by one because they skipped the zero "like it didn't count."

I am not sure whether it is a verbal cue that they are picking up incorrectly but it is important that students learn maths that will advance them as they progress and build on their knowledge and not contradict previous learning. If you skip zero, do you also skip a half or a quarter or a tenth, I asked them. What is the difference between one and negative one?

Funnily enough before the development of negative numbers there was no concept of zero and even the Roman numerals don't have a symbol for nothing! However, today it is a concept we all need to know and will undoubtedly come across in banking!!