What are number bonds?

A maths phrase that baffles many parents is “Number bonds.”

What are number bonds?

Number bonds are all the pairs or groups of numbers which add up "bond together,” to total a certain number.

It’s really helpful to “just know” these so that children don’t have to use up mental energy and time working them out when solving something more tricky later on.

We often talk about number bonds to 10. Here they are.

10+0=10

9+1=10

8+2=10

7+3=10

6+4=10

5+5=10

4+6=10

3+7=10

2+8=10

1+9=10

It’s important to know what the opposites of these are too, such as 10-6=4.

Learning is all about making links with what you already know so knowing these will, ultimately, help you know what 20-16 is,100-60 is, or 1000 – 600.

There are other number bonds that it’s important to know too.

It’s good to know all the numbers which add up to 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9. By knowing these inside and out, it saves mental energy and helps with understanding all sorts of other parts of maths.

Imagine being higher up school and learning about adding bigger numbers in their 100s or 1,000s, using addition methods like we learnt at school but struggling with each part, or making mistakes because we weren’t ABSOLUTELY SOLID in our knowledge of those smaller facts. This is avoidable and why we spend so much time on it when children are younger.

You can learn these basic number bonds with lots of games, repetition and family competitions. Be creative! There are lots of opportunities in daily life to spot number bonds or find what the corresponding number would be.

Would you like to learn more about how to support your child with their learning?

You might like to explore my courses for parents of primary school children.