You can add the word subtract so they can become familiar with it, but take away provides a concrete and visual description of the concept that supports the preoperational and the concrete operational child. Children tend to understand the concept of take away more readily than subtraction, so I encourage you to use take away when you ask children to subtract. The representation of the equals (=) sign lets them know that the total number equals both sets all together. If you were to put 3 apples on a table top and then draw a large + sign and put 3 apples on the other side of it, the message is that the two sets of apples should be added together. If children have concrete examples of items in front of them and they are asked to count how many items there are all together, they are adding. The addition sign (+) shows that one number is to be added to the other. The most common mathematical signs that young children will begin seeing and using are the +, -, and = signs used to perform simple addition and subtraction.