This free math tutoring video shows the first step in learning to do mental math. This teaching technique can be started as soon as children have their facts (number bonds) to 10 memorized. (VERY easy to do with Cuisenaire Rods! check out my other videos!)

Once children learn to add and subtract using “making tens” strategies for problems within 20, they can then take that knowledge and extend it to numbers within 100 and even within 1,000. I first learned this method from the Singapore Math curriculum. Too bad math isn’t taught this way in the U.S.

I’ve seen it with my own children. This concept is the key that opens the door…