Number bonds are the pairs of numbers that make up a total: 4 and 1 make 5, 6 and 4 make 10. Learning them is about understanding that numbers are made of smaller parts, and that the same total can be split in different ways.
Once children know bonds well, adding and subtracting become far less about counting on fingers and far more about seeing.
Why schools focus on them
The Early Learning Goal for Number in England includes automatically recalling number bonds up to 5, including subtraction facts, and some number bonds to 10, including doubles.
The NCETM’s Mastering Number programme, which runs from Reception through Year 1 and Year 2, aims to secure firm foundations in good number sense for all children.
Understanding before memorising
Rote recall without understanding tends to be fragile. Start with real objects: five toy cars, some in the garage and some outside. How many outside? How many inside? Then move them around. The total stays five while the parts change.
The Education Endowment Foundation’s guidance on early maths recommends using manipulatives and representations like this to build understanding.
Playful ways to practise
- Ten fingers: hold up seven, “how many are down?”
- Egg-box ten-frame: cut a box to ten holes, fill some with pasta and ask how many are empty.
- Hide and guess: put six buttons on the table, hide some under a cup; how many are hiding?
- Skittles: ten skittles, how many fell, how many are standing?
- Make ten snap: with number cards, find pairs that add to ten.
From slow to quick
At first your child will count to find the missing part, and that’s fine. With lots of short, friendly repetition, many will begin to just know. Doubles (2 and 2, 5 and 5) are often remembered first and make useful anchors.