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Learn addition facts
Teach concretely first:
- Start with small objects like dried beans, legos, or small toys. Ask your child a question like, “If you have two beans, and then I give you 3 more, how many do you have now?”
- As they count to find the sum, be sure that they have already mastered one-to-one correspondence and they are counting one object per number that they say. Pointing to the objects as they count and/or sliding them to a new pile as the count are good strategies to reinforce the one-to-one correspondence.
- You can also use this “swoop method” printable to help them use small manipulative to learn addition in a hands-on way.
More ideas for teaching addition:
- Solve basic addition problems first and after a while the answers will begin to naturally be memorized.
- Demonstrate the addition through visual representations like drawing dots to represent the addends (numbers being added) and count the total for the sum (answer to the addition problem).
- Demonstrate the answer with manipulatives (something tangible such as dried beans, legos, or base ten blocks).
- Play board games like “Sum Swamp.”
- Say addition problems aloud and use fingers to find the answer.
- Use strategies such as counting up from number. For example, if adding 3 to 5, start with 5 in your head and then count up to 3 fingers saying, “6, 7, 8,” to find the answer is 8.
Why should children memorize addition facts?
- Knowing addition facts will prepare them for more difficult mental math in the future.
- Memorizing addition facts makes problem solving quicker and easier, creating the opportunity for children to learn more complex concepts.
- Children see themselves as capable learners when they memorize these math facts. This is very motivating and inspires them to want to learn more while building self esteem.
- Memorizing math facts moves children from seeing math concretely to thinking of math abstractly. However, make sure they understand facts concretely (in a way that they can show with objects) before just memorizing.
- Problem solving skills are strengthened when kids can focus on the logic of the problem rather than just the computation.
