Basic Addition Facts to give our Children Strategies for the Future

In the first few years at school, children are taught some basic addition facts and strategies to help them with addition situations.

Children are presented from an early age with strategies to help with adding situations. They are in story books, in games they play with others, when shopping for something they want and when talking about food. There are many times when children come across addition problems and they begin to create strategies for solving them.

There are 6 main strategies taught to children in the early years of schooling to help with addition facts.

1. Count ons
2. Doubles
3. Near Doubles
4. Adding to Ten or Rainbow Facts
5. Making to Ten
6. Remaining Facts

Count Ons: these facts involve counting on by 0, 1, 2, or 3. We use the largest number and count on using the smaller number.

Doubles: these facts are double a number. For Example:

Near Doubles: if you know your doubles facts then addition sums nearby are easy - they are doubles plus 1 or 2.

For example: 5 + 6 or 6 + 5

- we know 5 + 5 = 10 therefore 5 + 6 = 11 (as it is just one more - 5 + 5 + 1)

9 + 8 or 8 + 9

- we know 8 + 8 = 16 therefore 8 + 8 + 1 = 17

7 + 9 or 9 + 7

- we know 7 + 7 = 14 therefore 7 + 7 + 2 = 16

Adding to Ten or Rainbow Facts: are the facts that together add to ten.

Making to ten: once you know the Rainbow Facts you just add 1 or 2.

- you can add 9 + 5 by looking at the sum as 10 + 4 (take 1 from the 5 and add to the 9)

Remaining Facts: these are the facts that don't quite fit with any of the above strategies.

• 7 + 5 = 12
• 8 + 4 = 12
• 8 + 5 = 13
• 8 + 6 = 14

For example 8 + 5 - think 8 + 2 add 3 more is 13

These 6 Strategies are a good way for children to learn their basic addition facts. If they can master these basic facts they will much better be equipped to use similar strategies on much larger numbers and mental computation in the future.

Our Addition Strategy Charts are a great tool to have around your child's homework station. Once strategies are known and understood, children find it much easier to add much larger numbers. A great tool to help develop their mental computation.