Common Core Math for Parents
If you learned math with flash cards and “carry the one”, your kid’s homework can look strange. These short animated lessons show what kids are asked to do now, why, and how to help without undoing it.
Start here: Number Pairs for 9 and 10 →How to use it
- Each chapter takes about 5 minutes: a narrated animation, two quick checks, and a short practice at the end.
- On a phone, turn it sideways. The lessons are drawn wide.
- Press play and it runs on its own. Tap the progress bar to jump around; CC turns on captions; 1× changes the speed.
- Quick checks pause the lesson. Type an answer and press Check. A wrong answer gets a hint, and you can always show the answer.
- Every chapter follows the same path: the way we learned it → how kids learn it now → why → tips for the kitchen table.
- Progress is saved in your browser, so you can stop and pick up later.
- With a keyboard: Space play/pause, ← → previous/next part, ? all shortcuts.
Words you’ll see on homework
- Number bond
- A whole in a top circle, split into two parts below it: “9 is 5 and 4”.
- Partners
- Two numbers that together make a whole. Partners of 10: 9 and 1, 8 and 2, …
- 5-group
- Five dots in a row, the rest underneath, so 7 is seen as “5 and 2” without counting.
- Ten-frame
- A 2 × 5 grid. Filling it shows how many more make 10.
- Math Way
- Counting on fingers from the left pinky, so 5 is always one full hand.
- Counting on
- Starting from the bigger number and counting up (6… 7, 8, 9) instead of starting at 1.
- Mystery number
- The number the question asks for, marked with a box around it.
Modules
★ marks modules where the methods look new if you learned math the traditional way. Modules without a star are taught much the way you learned, so you can likely skip them.
Kindergarten
M1: Numbers to 10
Counting objects to 10, writing numerals, sorting into groups.
OptionalM2: Two- and three-dimensional shapes
Naming flat and solid shapes and describing where things are: above, below, next to.
OptionalM3: Comparing length, weight, capacity, and numbers to 10
Longer or shorter, heavier or lighter, more or fewer.
Optional★ M4: Number Pairs, Addition and Subtraction to 10
This is where today’s methods first look different from how we learned: kids split numbers into parts (number bonds) before they add or take away, and use the same bond for both. Everything in 1st and 2nd grade math builds on it.
- 5Number Pairs for 9 and 10Number bonds, 5-groups, fingers, partners of 10, and why “10 = 7 + 3” isn’t backwards. Start here.Core
- 6Adding to 9 and 10Drawing the story first, counting on, the mystery-number box, and questions with more than one right answer.Core
- 7Taking Away from 9 and 10Subtraction is the same number bond read the other way: one bond gives four facts.Core
- 8Zero, One, and Making TenAdding 0 and 1 as patterns, and the “what’s missing to make 10?” habit that 1st grade relies on.Core
- 1–4Number bonds, adding and taking away up to 8The same ideas as chapters 5–8, with smaller numbers. Skip these unless your kid is working on totals up to 8 right now.Optional · not made yet
★ M5: Numbers 10–20 and counting to 100
Teen numbers taught as “ten and some ones” (13 is 10 and 3), the very start of place value.
Not made yetM6: Analyzing, comparing, and composing shapes
Putting shapes together to make new shapes.
OptionalGrade 1
★ M1: Sums and differences to 10
Counting on instead of counting all, and number bonds as the bridge between adding and subtracting.
Not made yet★ M2: Addition and subtraction within 20
Making ten: 9 + 4 becomes 10 + 3. The module that confuses the most parents.
Not made yetM3: Ordering and comparing length measurements
Measuring with paper clips or cubes and comparing lengths.
Optional★ M4: Place value, comparison, addition and subtraction to 40
Tens and ones drawn as sticks and dots; adding by combining tens and ones separately.
Not made yetM5: Identifying, composing, and partitioning shapes
Shapes, halves and quarters of shapes, telling time to the hour.
Optional★ M6: Place value, comparison, addition and subtraction to 100
Adding two-digit numbers by tens and ones, with no carrying yet.
Not made yetGrade 2
★ M1: Sums and differences to 100
Mental math strategies: making the next ten, adding tens first.
Not made yetM2: Addition and subtraction of length units
Measuring in inches and centimeters and adding lengths.
Optional★ M3: Place value, counting, and comparison to 1,000
Hundreds, tens and ones with place-value disks and charts.
Not made yet★ M4: Addition and subtraction within 200
Adding and subtracting without “carry” and “borrow”: the arrow way and place-value charts.
Not made yet★ M5: Addition and subtraction within 1,000
The same strategies with bigger numbers, and why the written method works.
Not made yet★ M6: Foundations of multiplication and division
Arrays and equal groups before any times tables.
Not made yetM7: Problem solving with length, money, and data
Counting coins, reading bar graphs and line plots.
OptionalM8: Time, shapes, and fractions as equal parts of shapes
Telling time to 5 minutes, and halves, thirds and fourths of a shape.
Optional