To develop automaticity, students also need to engage in meaningful practice. There’s one for multiplication and division facts, too. A great resource for strategy-based fact instruction is Mastering the Basic Math Facts in Addition and Subtraction: Strategies, Activities, and Interventions to Move Students Beyond Memorization. Sure, we want kiddos to have automaticity with their facts, but we want that fluency to be rooted in number sense–an understanding of how numbers are related. There’s a big difference between memorizing and understanding. So the shift has been away from rote memorization of math facts and toward a strategy-based approach for learning math facts. There is no additional cost to you, and I only link to books and products that I personally use and recommend. This post contains affiliate links, which simply means that when you use my link and purchase a product, I receive a small commission. For a great read on the problems with memorization, check out Jo Boaler‘s Fluency Without Fear. Traditionally, the emphasis has been on memorization and speed, much to the detriment of countless students.

The difference is the approach we now take to teaching basic facts. If a child has to struggle to solve 8 + 3, they have no mental energy (or desire) left to grapple with the types of problems that will increase their capacity as a mathematician. Knowing math facts is similar to knowing sight words–it frees up the mind to solve real math problems.

The standards, whether the CCSSM or the TEKS in Texas, definitively state that students should develop fluency with calculations, and that means automaticity with basic facts.

Basic math facts practice