Allow students to use manipulatives such as counters and number lines to learn the concept of addition and subtraction. All students will benefit from manipulatives, but those with learning difficulties will especially benefit. Use counters to allow students to visualize math facts. For example, students can compute "5 + 4" by placing five counters and then four counters on their desk. Then the student can count the items to figure out the answer. Show students how move to the right on a number line to add and to the left to subtract. Number lines can be taped to the students' desks for them to refer to as needed.
Allow students to practice math facts with games. Students enjoy games and will be more motivated to practice facts when playing a game. Some fun math games include flash card games such as Around the World, doughnut math and dice games. To play Around the World, have two students stand side by side and show them a flash card. The one to answer correctly first remains standing and the other sits back down. Then the next student in line stands next to the previous winner. This process continue until all students have had a turn. To play doughnut math, cut out two large doughnut shapes out of a poster board and put the numbers zero through nine around the outside of the doughnut randomly. For durability, laminate each doughnut. Tap the donuts shapes to your whiteboard and write any number between zero and nine on the board in the center of each doughnut. Two students then compete to see who can add the middle number to the each of the numbers of the doughnut. The students write the sums around the outside of the doughnut on the whiteboard. The person who finishes first wins.
Young students need varied activities to keep their interest. If possible, allow students to play online math games for a few minutes each day to practice skills and to provide motivation. Students will often work harder to finish an assignment when rewarded with computer time. Computer programs such as Math Facts in a Flash allow students to practice computing math facts quickly. A variety of fun online math games can be found online at Funbrain and at Trip1 Math Resources.
Teach students to count in their heads to add one or two to another number or subtract one or two from another number. Encourage students to memorize double addition facts such as 4+4 and 7+7. Students can use the sums of these facts to give them clues about other facts using numbers either one more or one less than the numbers in the doubles facts. Teach students that when adding the number nine, the answer will have a digit in the ones place that is one less than the number being added. Explain to students about fact families, the relationship between addition and subtraction and the commutative property of addition, which tells that the sum of an addition problem does not change regardless of the order of the addends.