Longitudinal studies on pre-existing mathematics skills or prior mathematicsknowledge at very early elementary school ages are also pertinent given that such skillsare typically subsumed by number sense. For example, skills that a kindergarten studentmight come to school already possessing include number identification, counting, andrelative size, all of which contribute to overall number sense. These components of priorknowledge reveal the same empirical advantages as studies referencing the number senseconstruct or components of it.