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Kindergarten – 1st · Math

Adding & Taking Away to 20

First addition and subtraction with pictures, fingers, and objects — building the facts that everything later depends on.

Practice sets

Read the teaching notes, then let them practice on screen or print a sheet. Every set makes fresh problems each time, and you can change the numbers to match where your child is.

Adding to 10

Say this to your child first

Put ten small objects on the table — buttons, cereal, anything. Say: "I have 3 here and 4 here. How many altogether?" Let them count the whole group. Do three together like this before touching the screen. The goal is that they see addition as putting two piles together, not as a symbol.

Watch out for

Counting the first pile again from one instead of counting on from it. If they do that, cover the first pile with your hand and say the number out loud for them.

How this works

  1. 1. Read the notes above and do one problem together.
  2. 2. Open Practice and let them work on screen. Anything with one right answer is marked instantly; written answers are shown to you side by side with a good one, for you to judge.
  3. 3. Or open Print a sheet for a paper worksheet with an answer key for you.

Taking away from 20

Say this to your child first

Same objects. Start with a pile of 12 and physically take some away while they watch. "We had 12, I took 5. How many left?" Let them count what remains. Only once they can do it with objects should they try it on the screen.

Watch out for

Guessing rather than counting. Slow it down and make them move the objects with their hands — the hands teach this, not the eyes.

How this works

  1. 1. Read the notes above and do one problem together.
  2. 2. Open Practice and let them work on screen. Anything with one right answer is marked instantly; written answers are shown to you side by side with a good one, for you to judge.
  3. 3. Or open Print a sheet for a paper worksheet with an answer key for you.

Adding and taking away, all mixed up

Say this to your child first

Mixing the two is much harder than doing twenty of each. They have to read the sign before they start, which is exactly the habit worth building. Slow them down and make them say 'plus' or 'take away' out loud first.

Watch out for

Adding when the sign says take away. It nearly always means they started calculating before reading.

How this works

  1. 1. Read the notes above and do one problem together.
  2. 2. Open Practice and let them work on screen. Anything with one right answer is marked instantly; written answers are shown to you side by side with a good one, for you to judge.
  3. 3. Or open Print a sheet for a paper worksheet with an answer key for you.

Number bonds to 10

Say this to your child first

These ten facts are the foundation of all mental arithmetic. Do them until they are instant, not worked out. Use fingers, buttons, anything physical — then take the objects away and ask again.

Watch out for

Counting up on fingers every time. That is fine at first, but the goal is instant recall. Come back to this set often and keep it short.

How this works

  1. 1. Read the notes above and do one problem together.
  2. 2. Open Practice and let them work on screen. Anything with one right answer is marked instantly; written answers are shown to you side by side with a good one, for you to judge.
  3. 3. Or open Print a sheet for a paper worksheet with an answer key for you.