Addition Math Fact Practice for Kids

Why is mastering addition math facts so important? Research shows that long-term success with mathematics begins with mastering number sense, which includes–you guessed it–fluency with basic math facts. Between kindergarten and fourth grade, students are building the skills of addition and subtraction. Memorizing addition facts greatly accelerates the process and builds a child’s confidence.

Games are by far the most fun way to help kids learn their addition math facts. Let us introduce you to an approach to addition math facts practice that your kids will look forward to and that you can accomplish right in the comfort of your own home.

• What Is an Addition Fact?
• How to Teach Addition Facts at Home
• Games to Practice Addition Facts
• How Time4MathFacts Helps with Learning Addition Facts

What Is an Addition Fact?

The building block of arithmetic is taking a number and adding it to another one. In kindergarten, children learn to count both forwards and backwards, and to compare amounts of items. This leads to combining single and double digit numbers in first and second grade. Although conceptual understanding of addition is critical, this is also the time when students are encouraged to make this learning more automatic.

An addition fact is the sum of two specific addends that will always equal the same result. 2 + 2 will always equal four. 7 + 8 will always equal 15. Committing these basic addition facts to memory speeds up math tasks and frees the brain to focus on other math processes. Through the combination of understanding and memorization of addition facts, a student will have a strong foundation for math success.

Games to Practice Addition Facts

Is your child ready to move from counting and number comparison to memorization of addition facts? Whether you are a homeschooling parent or are simply trying to support what your child is learning in the classroom, the best way to memorize addition facts is to combine practice with fun.

Let’s explore several creative ways to build math fact fluency in addition that are engaging, easy, and inexpensive.

• Helping a child visualize addition can be key to building automaticity with the basic addition facts. Simple manipulatives such as blocks, popsicle sticks, and linking cubes can help students not only better understand the process of adding items together, but use that understanding to predict the outcomes of the calculations–addition facts!
• Dice can provide endless options to practice addition. Turn dice sums into a game by rolling multiple times with a partner to see who can get to 100 first.
• Let children draw equations to represent specific addition facts. Can they create a tree in the shape of an “8” that has five branches and three squirrels on the branches? A car in the shape of a “20” with four wheels and sixteen windows?
• There are many children’s books aimed at helping kids with addition. Visit your local library and search for titles such as “What’s New at the Zoo?”, “Mission: Addition”, and “12 Ways to Get to 11”.

How to Teach Addition Facts at Home

When trying to help students build fluency in addition facts, it’s important to know how to teach addition facts that stick! That’s where game-based learning comes in. Sure, games make learning addition more fun. But the more important part is that addition facts games–navigating around a maze, avoiding enemies, and achieving various game objectives–keep a child’s focused attention which builds working memory of the facts they are learning.

Addition math facts games offer early elementary students multiple benefits over simple flashcards or rote repetition such as:

• Students become active participants in their own learning.
• The combination of strategy and chance in a game keeps students more challenged and engaged.
• Gamification introduces low-risk competition. Instead of competing against others, addition fluency games encourage students to beat their own previous scores.
• Gaming generates feedback; students know immediately if they are progressing or need more reinforcement.

How Time4MathFacts Helps with Learning Addition Facts

Time4MathFacts is an individualized and adaptive online math fact fluency program designed to help students learn and master basic math facts. It uses a fact family approach to give students a better understanding of number concepts while playing games that they genuinely enjoy. Time4MathFacts lets students progress at their own pace, increasing the difficulty level of games until they reached mastery of each addition math fact.

Some of the reasons that families choose the addition math practice games from Time4MathFacts include:

1. The program is adaptive to each student, quickly recognizing which facts he or she has already mastered, and those they need additional practice with.
2. Action-packed games with attractive sound effects and graphics engage kids from the first play session.
3. Improvements that students make in their addition facts are rewarded with motivational tokens that can be used in the Reflex Store and even unlock new games.
4. Parent dashboard offers detailed usage and fluency growth reports as well as info on which fact families your child has mastered.
5. Visual progress charts that show increasing proficiency with facts and printable certificates of mastery give students confidence in their math abilities.