Addition in Year 2 In Year 2 there are several very important mental strategies and facts children need to develop in order to be quick and accurate when adding mentally. Here are the key ones: 1. Addition should be thought of as the combination of two sets to make a total set. For this to be understood a number of words also need to be used and understood, re-inforcing the work done in year 1: more    add    sum   total    altogether    equals    sign Equals can be explained as meaning 'is the same as'. The idea of adding zero to a number will leave it the same can be a difficult concept to understand and zero should be included in any questions involving simple addition. 2. When adding two numbers mentally the child needs to be able to arrange the sum so that the smaller number is counted on to the larger number. For example: 5 + 23 is rearranged as 23 + 5. Starting from 23 count on 5 to reach the answer 28. 3. A clever technique: adding 9 by adding 10 and subtracting 1. This works really well when adding nine to any two digit number. There are exceptions to this: for example adding nine to a multiple of ten would not need this method as it is easier just to add the nine. When children are confident with adding nine they can be introduced to adding nineteen; much the same method of adding twenty and subtracting one. 4. Once children are confident with counting in tens, single digits can be added to multiples of ten, and later 100. For example 40 + 5 =     or 100 + 6 =. 5. Single digits can also be added to two digit numbers, such as 34 + 5 or 26 + 3. Later, two digit numbers can be added to multiples of ten, such as 23 + 30. Real confidence with addition and subtraction can be gained through concentrating on small steps, each building on previous knowledge. 6. When adding two, two digit numbers it can be explained that the numbers can be partitioned into tens and units so that 23 + 34 is (20 + 30) plus (3 + 4). When adding such pairs of numbers it is easier to add the tens first - very different from the traditional paper and pencil method where we start with the units. It is generally recognised that when working ‘in our heads’ we usually start with the tens and then go to the units. 7. Adding three single digit numbers is introduced in Year 2. When doing this a good strategy to use is to look for any pair of numbers which make 10, again re-inforcing the idea that addition can be done in any order. For example: 4 + 9 + 6 can be done by adding 4 and 6 to make 10 and then add the 9 to make 19. An important aim is for children to know off by heart all pairs of numbers that add up to 10. For the most able children in Year 2 the totals can be increased up to 100, when using apparatus (blocks, cubes etc). At first totals up to 20 can be explored and later whole tens up to 100. We have an amazing selection of addition worksheets in year 2 covering all aspects of the above. Why not visit there now? Addition Year 2