What Ponder’s built-in practice covers in Foundation, set by set, with the content descriptions each set is tagged with.
In Foundation, Ponder has 13 practice sets: 6 in maths (counting to 20; patterns, sizes and days; sharing and groups; and more), 3 in English (sounds, rhymes and letters; words, sentences and full stops; characters, events and rhymes) and 2 in science (how things move and what they are made of; living things), plus HASS and wellbeing. Sets are tagged with Australian Curriculum v9.0 content descriptions, and every question has hints that guide rather than give the answer.
Free check: see what is going well in Foundation maths or English, and what to practise next →
Foundation is the Australian Curriculum’s name for the first year of school: Pre-primary in WA, Kindergarten in NSW and the ACT, Prep in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania, Reception in SA and Transition in the NT.
Count dots, shells and kangaroos, and find the parts of 5.
For parents: By the end of Foundation, your child should be able to count collections to 20, say how many in a small group at a glance, and split 5 or 10 into two parts.
AC9MFN01name, represent and order numbers including zero to at least 20, using physical and virtual materials and numeralsAC9MFN02recognise and name the number of objects within a collection up to 5 using subitisingAC9MFN03quantify and compare collections to at least 20 using counting and explain or demonstrate reasoningAC9MFN04partition and combine collections up to 10 using part-part-whole relationships and subitising to recognise and name the partsLook quickly. How many dots? ● ● ●
Choices: 2 · 3 · 4
Continue patterns, compare long and short, and put the day in order.
For parents: By the end of Foundation, your child should be able to continue a simple pattern, compare which is longer, heavier or holds more, and put the days and parts of the day in order.
AC9MFA01recognise, copy and continue repeating patterns represented in different waysAC9MFM01identify and compare attributes of objects and events, including length, capacity, mass and duration, using direct comparisons and communicating reasoningAC9MFM02sequence days of the week and times of the day including morning, lunchtime, afternoon and night time, and connect them to familiar events and actionsWhat comes next? Red, blue, red, blue, red, …
Choices: Blue · Red · Green
Share apples fairly and put eggs and kids into equal groups.
For parents: By the end of Foundation, your child should be able to share things out fairly and make equal groups using real objects.
AC9MFN06represent practical situations that involve equal sharing and grouping with physical and virtual materials and use counting or subitising strategies4 apples. 2 children share them fairly. How many apples does each child get?
Choices: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4
Use on, under, behind and between, then sort and compare groups.
For parents: By the end of Foundation, your child should be able to use words like on, under, behind and between, and sort things into groups to compare them.
AC9MFSP02describe the position and location of themselves and objects in relation to other people and objects within a familiar spaceAC9MFST01collect, sort and compare data represented by objects and images in response to given investigative questions that relate to familiar situationsA cup is on top of a box. Which one is lower down?
Choices: The cup · The box · They are the same height
Count ducks, apples and kangaroos. Add some, take some away.
For parents: Across Foundation to Year 2, your child learns to add and take away small numbers, first with objects and then with number sentences.
AC9MFN05represent practical situations involving addition, subtraction and quantification with physical and virtual materials and use counting or subitising strategiesAC9M1N04add and subtract numbers within 20, using physical and virtual materials, part-part-whole knowledge to 10 and a variety of calculation strategiesAC9M2N04add and subtract one- and two-digit numbers, representing problems using number sentences, and solve using part-part-whole reasoning and a variety of calculation strategies3 ducks are in the pond. 2 more ducks come. How many ducks now?
Choices: 4 · 6 · 5
Circles, triangles, squares and balls: sides, corners and shape patterns.
For parents: Across Foundation to Year 2, your child learns to name and sort familiar shapes and objects by their sides, corners and other features.
AC9MFSP01sort, name and create familiar shapes; recognise and describe familiar shapes within objects in the environment, giving reasonsAC9M1SP01make, compare and classify familiar shapes; recognise familiar shapes and objects in the environment, identifying the similarities and differences between themAC9M2SP01recognise, compare and classify shapes, referencing the number of sides and using spatial terms such as “opposite”, “parallel”, “curved” and “straight”How many sides does a triangle have?
Choices: 2 · 3 · 4
Listen for rhymes, clap the beats and blend sounds into words.
For parents: By the end of Foundation, your child should be able to hear rhymes and syllables, name the letters and their most common sounds, and blend sounds to read simple words.
AC9EFLY09recognise and generate rhyming words, alliteration patterns, syllables and sounds (phonemes) in spoken words (phonological awareness)AC9EFLY10segment sentences into individual words; orally blend and segment single-syllable spoken words; isolate, blend and manipulate phonemes in single-syllable words (phonological awareness)AC9EFLY11recognise and name all upper- and lower-case letters (graphs) and know the most common sound that each letter representsAC9EFLY05use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising and questioning to understand and discuss texts listened to, viewed or read independentlyWhich word rhymes with cat?
Choices: cup · hat · dog · cap
Count the words in a sentence, find where to start reading and learn what ends a sentence.
For parents: By the end of Foundation, your child should be able to know where to start reading on a page, count the words in a sentence, and know that a sentence starts with a capital and ends with a full stop.
AC9EFLA03understand that texts can take many forms such as signs, books and digital textsAC9EFLA04understand conventions of print and screen, including how books and simple digital texts are usually organisedAC9EFLA05recognise that sentences are key units for expressing ideasAC9EFLA06recognise that sentences are made up of groups of words that work together in particular ways to make meaningAC9EFLA09identify punctuation as a feature of written text different from letters; recognise that capital letters are used for names, and that capital letters also signal the beginning of sentences while punctuation marks signal the endListen: “I can see a dog.” How many words are in this sentence?
Meet Pip the possum, find the start and end of her story, and play with rhymes.
For parents: By the end of Foundation, your child should be able to talk about the characters and events in a story, say how it begins and ends, and join in with rhymes.
AC9EFLE02respond to stories and share feelings and thoughts about their events and charactersAC9EFLE03recognise different types of literary texts and identify features including events, characters, and beginnings and endingsAC9EFLE04explore and replicate the rhythms and sound patterns of literary texts such as poems, rhymes and songsWho is the story about?
Choices: a possum · a mango · a tree
Rolling, sliding and floating down, plus soft, hard and see-through things.
For parents: By the end of Foundation, your child should be able to describe how things move, such as rolling or sliding, and what everyday objects are made of.
AC9SFU02describe how objects move and how factors including their size, shape or material influence their movementAC9SFU03recognise that objects can be composed of different materials and describe the observable properties of those materialsWhich one will roll down a ramp the best?
Choices: A ball · A box · A book
What living things need, where animals live and how they grow and change.
For parents: Across Foundation to Year 2, your child learns to describe what plants and animals need, where they live, and how they can be grouped.
AC9SFU01observe external features of plants and animals and describe ways they can be grouped based on these featuresAC9S1U01identify the basic needs of plants and animals, including air, water, food or shelter, and describe how the places they live meet those needsWhich one is a living thing?
Choices: A rock · A chair · A tree
Families, celebrations, special places and how we look after them.
For parents: By the end of Foundation, your child should be able to talk about their family, celebrations and special places, and why Country/Place matters to First Nations Australians.
AC9HSFK01the people in their family, where they were born and raised, and how they are related to each otherAC9HSFK02the celebrations and commemorations of significant events shared with their families and othersAC9HSFK03the features of familiar places they belong to, why some places are special and how places can be looked afterAC9HSFK04the importance of Country/Place to First Nations Australians and the Country/Place on which the school is locatedAC9HSFS02sort and record information including pictorial timelines and locations on pictorial maps or modelsYour mum’s mum is your …
Choices: Grandma · Aunty · Sister
Share, take turns, name your feelings and know when to ask a grown-up.
For parents: Across Foundation to Year 2, your child learns to take turns and share, name their feelings, and know when to ask a grown-up for help.
A general-capabilities set (no content-description codes).
You have lots of blocks. Your friend has none. What is a kind thing to do?
Choices: Keep them all for me · Give some blocks to my friend · Hide the blocks
Each set has a few short questions. Every question follows the same five problem-solving steps, and the three hints line up with the first three steps, so help builds from a nudge to a worked example of a similar problem. The answer is never the first thing a learner sees.
| Step | The learner asks | A grown-up can ask |
|---|---|---|
| Understand | What is the question asking? | What is the question asking you to find? |
| Plan | How could I work it out? | What could you try first? Would a picture help? |
| Try | Have a go. A guess is a good start. | Have a go, and tell me what you’re thinking. |
| Check | Does my answer make sense? | How could you check that? |
| Reflect | What helped me? What would I do next time? | What helped you? What would you do next time? |
After each answer, Ponder explains why it’s right, or what to look at again. At the end of a set it celebrates the strategies the learner used, such as draw a picture, break it into parts and look for a pattern.
Under the Australian Curriculum v9.0, Foundation maths covers number, algebra, measurement, space and statistics. Ponder’s Foundation maths sets practise counting to 20, patterns, sizes and days, sharing and groups, where is it? Sorting and counting and adding and taking away. The full list of content descriptions is on the Australian Curriculum website.
Every state and territory teaches Foundation to Year 10 content from the Australian Curriculum, either directly or through its own version built from it (NSW and Victoria publish their own syllabuses). Ponder tags sets with v9.0 codes, so they line up with what is taught in every state, though schools order topics differently.
Yes. Open the Ponder app, choose the learner side, then pick a subject and a set. No account is needed while Ponder is in preview.
Not straight away. Each question has three hints that build from a nudge to a worked example of a similar problem. After an answer, Ponder explains why it’s right or what to look at again.
Content descriptions © Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2009 to present, unless otherwise indicated. They were downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website (accessed 27 September 2026) and were not modified, except that a few end early where the website shows a fraction or symbol as an image. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Ponder is not affiliated with or endorsed by ACARA.
Ponder is in preview. Explore the app now with no account, and join the launch list to hear first when accounts open later this year.