Memorising addition and subtraction facts is vital for making progress in maths and helps students access more complex tasks.
When I speak to teachers who are concerned about the maths proficiency of children, a common theme is that they are seeing too many students who cannot fluently recall basic addition and subtraction facts. Parents, too, are often surprised that schools are not helping their child to memorise addition and subtraction facts.
Let’s define what I mean by memorisation. I mean that when prompted with something like 8 + 4, they can respond with 12 quickly and effortlessly. What is not memorisation is applying a strategy to effortfully work out 8 + 4, say, by counting on using your fingers.
Let’s get one thing out of the way: being able to apply a strategy to derive a fact is a worthy instructional goal. My sense is that there is consensus amongst teachers that teaching students strategies is a good thing. Is there the same consensus around memorising facts? No, but there should be! So, why should children memorise addition and subtraction facts?
