Will you please try to spend 10 minutes each night with your child memorizing addition facts? This can be done by using fact triangles, flashcards, problems out loud, addition games, etc. If you have a deck of cards, simply take out the face cards and have your child teach you how to play "Addition Top-It". I will list some websites for resources to use. There are websites that allow you to print flashcards out for free, free math games, etc. Another idea is to quiz your child while you are driving in the car. You be the judge of how hard these need to be because you know your child best. We have been working all year on using strategies to add. Students know how to use a
hundred chart, a number line, use counters, count with fingers, etc. They are aware of the tools to get the answer to problems. I am happy with their progress but feel like we need extra practice
recognizing these addition problems automatically. We are still following our Everyday Mathematics program but we are also spending an additional 15 minutes every morning practicing Everyday Math fact triangles and playing Addition Top-It. Every morning, we have been trying to get better at automatically answering math problems. We work in partners to quiz
each other. We are trying to recognize patterns in adding. Some Patterns to note:
Doubles: The doubles numbers need to be recognized automatically. 1+1=2 2+2=4 3+3=6 4+4=8 5+5=10 6+6=12 7+7=14 8+8=16 9+9=18 10+10=20
The 1's pattern. 1+2=3. I tell the kids to just think of the number that comes after the biggest number in the pattern. In 1+4=5, 5 is one more than 4.
The 10's pattern. 10+2= 12. I tell them to think of the zero being gone. If you take the zero away and put the 2 in the ones place you get 12. I try to make them automatically think of the zero as being gone. In 10+5 I have them visualize 15. We try to do this very speedy with only a second to think of the answer. They are getting better at this.
The 9's pattern. 9+3=12. I try to have them think of the 10's pattern minus 1. If they know that 10+3=13 they can recognize that one less that 13 is 12.
