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.
Math Models Explained
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 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 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 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.
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.
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.