Basic Facts

Basic Facts

You have probably heard how important it is for children to know their basic facts in order to make progress in maths. But what exactly are they?

• Addition/subtraction basic facts refer to all the additions (and the corresponding subtractions) that can be made up to 20: from 1 + 1 = 2 right through to 19 + 1 =20.
• Multiplication/division basic facts refer to all the possible multiplications (and the corresponding divisions) between numbers up to 10: from 1 ⨉ 1 = 1 through to 10 ⨉ 10 = 100.

Knowing these facts off by heart enables students to free up space in their minds so that they can complete more complex mathematical thinking without having to dedicate brainpower to ‘working out’ the basics. Once a student understands how the maths behind the basic facts work (e.g. what is multiplication or division etc.) the best way to learn the facts is to memorise them – this is often called rote learning.

HINT: when learning facts, learning the family of facts e.g. 6 + 2 = 8, 2 + 6 = 8, 8 - 2 = 6, 8 - 6 = 2. It ensures the subtraction is strengthened along with the addition.

Basic Facts Practice Website:

• Embedded below is the Prototec Basic Facts practice website.
• On this site, you can select the Basic Facts stage you are currently working at to complete timed and un-timed tests.
• In the timed test ('Test Type: Timed'), you have 4 seconds to answer each question. If you are able to correctly answer the question in this time then you have successfully memorised that basic fact.
• To move on to learning the basic facts in the next stage, you also need to answer at least 8 out of 10 questions correctly in each box.
• In the un-timed test ('Test Type: Sheet') you have as much time as you need to answer each question before pressing the "Mark" button to mark you test. You can also print out any test sheet you generate to complete using a pencil.
• All test worksheets are randomly generated, so no two are likely to ever be the same.