Math
The models on your child's math homework, from number lines and ten frames to tape diagrams and area models. What each one shows, which grade uses it, why schools teach it, and how to use it at home.
Counting & Number Sense
How-toExplainerWhat number sense is, the order its parts grow in from age 3 to first grade, a two-minute check-in, and everyday ways to build it at home.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat subitizing is, the two kinds, what age children do each, and how to practice it at home, with free dot cards to print.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerOne-to-one correspondence, the five counting principles, why a child can count to 20 but not say how many, and counting activities for preschool.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhen kids learn it, how to teach it, counting by 10s, why kids stop at 29, and counting backwards, with free worksheets.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerFilled, blank, and missing-number charts with answer keys, and five minutes a night of ways to use one with your child.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat the signs mean, a way to remember them that names them too, when children learn them, and how to teach comparing at the kitchen table.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat each pair means, when children learn it, and how to move a child from counting to find the answer to knowing it.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerFree sheets for 0–9 and 10–20, what age children write numbers, how to teach each one, and why 3s and 7s come out backwards.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerFirst to tenth in a table, how ordinal numbers differ from counting numbers, when children learn them, and five minutes of practice with toys already in the house.
How-toExplainerWhat the research says, when children usually stop, and how to move from counting every finger to seeing groups of five.
WorksheetsHow-toGuideWhich board games build number sense and why, the best ones for ages 3 to 8, how to play so the numbers count, and a free number path game to print.
Addition & Subtraction
How-toExplainerWhat addition and subtraction mean, the strategies children learn from kindergarten to third grade in teaching order, and how to practice at home.
How-toExplainerWhat subtraction means, the names of its three parts, the four strategies children use within 20 in the order they learn them, and games to practice at home.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat a fact family is, how it helps a child subtract, what grade uses it, the fact family house and triangle, and how to teach it at home, with free worksheets.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerThe addition strategies kids learn before memorizing facts: what each one is, which facts it solves, what grade it belongs to, and how to teach it at home, with free worksheets.
How-toExplainerWhat math facts and fact fluency are, when children should know their addition and subtraction facts, how they get from counting to knowing, and how to practice them a few minutes a day.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerFilled and blank addition charts with answer keys, a subtraction chart, how to read an addition table, what its patterns show, and how to use one at home.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat the addition and subtraction facts are and how many there are, how kids learn the subtraction facts through the addition facts, and free flash cards sorted by strategy with each answer on the back.
ExplainerRegrouping is what many parents learned as carrying and borrowing: what it means, why schools changed the words, the grade it is taught in, and whether children still learn the old method.
WorksheetsHow-toAddition with regrouping, which many parents learned as carrying, for two- and three-digit numbers: the steps, the order to practice in, the common mistakes, and free worksheets with answer keys.
WorksheetsHow-toSix PDFs within 10, within 20, and within 100, each with an answer key, which one each grade needs, and how to use a worksheet so it shows how your child thinks.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerTwo-digit, three-digit, and subtracting across zeros, the grade each one belongs to, the mistakes that leave a recognizable wrong answer, and a free worksheet whose answer key shows every regroup mark.
Math Models Explained
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat a number bond is, why schools draw it, what grade children learn it, and how to teach it at home, with a free blank template and worksheets.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat a ten frame is, why schools use one instead of counting by ones, what each grade does with it, and how to make ten at the kitchen table.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat the units, rods, and flats stand for, how to show a number and a regroup with them, and free to-scale blocks to cut out, a mat, and practice sheets with answer keys.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat the bead rack on your child's homework is, why schools use it instead of counting by ones, which grades use it, and how to use one at home, with a free paper rekenrek.
How-toExplainerWhat a math manipulative is, what the research says makes one work, which ones fit which age, how to make them at home, and how to use them so they lead to written numbers.
How-toExplainerWhy math is taught differently now, the same problems solved the old way and the new way, when the standard algorithm arrives, and how to help with tonight's homework.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat an area model is, how to multiply with one step by step, how it lines up with the carrying method parents learned, which grade uses it, and free worksheets with an answer key.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat a tape diagram is and why it has three names, which grade uses it, how to draw one step by step, and why schools teach it, with a free blank template and word problems.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat a number line is and why it starts at 0, which grade uses one, how to add and subtract by jumps, and free printable lines from 0–10 to 0–100, blank and open.
WorksheetsHow-toExplainerWhat an array is, how it shows multiplication, which grade uses it, why schools teach it before the times tables, and how to explain it at home, with free array worksheets.