Why Are Number Bonds in Kindergarten So Important?

Number bonds in kindergarten have become a staple of early math learning, but why are they so important? From helping with fact-family awareness to developing decomposing skills, these visual tools help students develop a strong number sense.

What is a Number Bond?

As I’ve mentioned before, my mom is doing distance learning with my niece (1st grade) and nephew (4th grade). When she first started helping them, she had no clue what a number bond was or why it would be helpful for my niece’s learning.

I know a lot of parents have been in this boat, trying to figure out these new educational terms that weren’t necessarily used when they were in school.

Even though we think of a number bond as a newer mathematical tool, the term has actually been around since the 1920s! It became more mainstream in the 1980s when it was incorporated into Singapore Math.

One of Singapore Math’s foundational concepts is teaching fewer topics in greater depth. After developing this system, Singapore saw its national math scores go through the roof.

With the success of Singapore Math, the United States looked to its system as guidance when creating the Common Core Math Standards. This led to the widespread use of number bonds (among other tools) within the U.S. educational system.

The Benefits of the Number Bond in Kindergarten

The awesome thing about number bonds is that they teach many concepts in a single mathematical problem. Number bonds:

• Provides a mental picture of a number being divided into “pieces.”
• Increases fact family fluency.
• Provides a foundation for more complex math strategies.
• Teach addition and subtraction simultaneously.

Decomposing Numbers

Decomposing numbers has become a key mathematical concept in the lower grades. Understanding that 10 (for example) can be divided into 10+0, 9+1, 8+2, 7+3, 6+4, 5+5 is so foundational to many other math concepts.

(Picture from Kindergarten Early Finisher Task Cards – April)

Once you have this base of knowledge, you can expand on it. In first grade, a student might see an additional problem involving 5+8. If they know that 8 can be broken into 5 and 3, they can add the 5s together and then add the 3 to easily get 13.

(Picture from 1st Grade Early Finisher Task Cards- May)

Second grade builds on this skill as well. I found this video by Danielle the Tutor on when to use the number bond strategy for more complex problems, and I thought it was excellent!

Learning the number bond strategy and becoming fluent in decomposing numbers are lifelong skills students need!

Fact Families

Number bonds also work well for internalizing fact families! Students begin to memorize the patterns they see when they get lots of practice completing number bonds.

With a number bond, students learn that 6 + 1 = 7. They are also internalizing the fact that if you want to reach 7 and you already have 6, you only need 1 more!

Manipulatives

Before you can think about numerals abstractly and use mental math, you need to start with manipulatives.

Working with counters should start in the very first week of school. Kindergarten students need to have one-to-one number correspondence before they move on to the next skill. Students should be able to:

• Count to tell how many objects are both within a straight line and also randomized.
• Given a number, produce that number of counters.
• Touch each counter and say the number name without skipping any numerals.
• Match numbers – can you give each bear a button?

Students need LOTS of counting practice in the beginning. Give them a random number and have them add that many counters to their number bond in kindergarten.

I also created a simple little Google Slides activity that you can use with your students if they are distance learning. Just give them a number, have them count the correct objects into the big circle. Ask them to separate the number into 2 smaller parts, then discuss the variations they came up with.

Addition

Once students have had a ton of practice using manipulatives, it’s time to add objects together. Ask students to add to the smaller circles. Once they have done that, they can practice moving everything together to add.

After students have a firm grip on addition with manipulatives, it’s time to move on to addition with numerals! Here’s a fun Boom Card deck that gives students TONS of practice with number bond addition.

• Boom Cards – Number Bond Addition to 10

Subtraction

Finally, we move on to subtraction (or missing addends). This is definitely the most challenging step in number bond learning, but if your students have a strong foundation in the manipulative and addition sections, this part should be a breeze.

Check out the free resource I made for you guys in the link below that has tons of number bond practice! I was going to make a quick 1- or 2-page freebie, and then all of a sudden it’s like 10 pages! Oopsie!!

• Number Bond Practice Worksheets

I hope this post gave you a little more information about number bonds and why they are helpful for kindergarten students in developing the fundamental mathematical skills they need!