Number facts, explained
Number facts are the small sums a child knows by heart: 7 + 5 = 12, 13 − 6 = 7, 6 × 8 = 48, 48 ÷ 6 = 8. Every bigger calculation is built out of them, so the quicker they come, the easier everything after them gets. The pages below show the tricks that make them stick.
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Addition facts
Number bonds, making 10 and doubles turn every small sum into an easy one.
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Subtraction facts
Count back, count on or go through 10, and lean on the addition facts.
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Times tables
What multiplying means, a trick for each table, and how to learn the hard ones.
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Division facts
Every division fact is a times-table fact read backwards.
Questions people ask
Does my child need to learn them by heart?
In the end, yes. Counting on fingers works at first, but in a long multiplication or a long division a child needs dozens of facts in a row, and working each one out makes them lose their place.
In what order are they usually learned?
Adding and taking away within 10 first, then within 20. The times tables follow, usually 2, 5 and 10 first, and each division fact comes with its times-table fact.
More explained
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Divisibility rules
Tell whether a number divides exactly by 2 to 13, without doing the division.
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Factors and primes
What a prime is, how to break a number into primes, and the HCF and LCM.
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Written methods
Long addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, decimals included.
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Fractions
What a fraction is, comparing and equal fractions, and adding, taking away, multiplying and dividing them.
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Shapes and space
Naming flat shapes and solids, counting sides, corners, faces and edges, and angles.