Number bonds: the step that makes carrying make sense
2026-08-04 · 4 min read
Carrying and borrowing get taught as procedures, and a child who hasn't got number bonds automatic will follow the steps without understanding any of them. Before drilling addition with regrouping, check one thing: can they tell you instantly what goes with 7 to make 10?
The thirty-second check
Ask: 8 and what makes 10? 6 and what? 3 and what? If any of these take more than a beat, that's where to work. Everything built on top of shaky bonds stays slow and error prone.
Use objects before paper
Ten counters, cover some, ask how many are hidden. This gets the idea across faster than any worksheet, because the answer is physically there to check. Three minutes a day is plenty.
The sheet this article talks about:Print a number bonds sheet
Then bonds on paper, five minutes
Once the idea is solid, the written form makes it automatic. Keep sessions short — this is recall practice, not a lesson, and it works by frequency rather than length.
Now carrying makes sense
8 + 5 becomes: 8 needs 2, take 2 from the 5, that leaves 3, so ten and three. A child who owns their bonds does this in their head. A child who doesn't is memorizing a procedure they can't check.
Same story with subtraction
Borrowing leans on the same knowledge running the other way. If borrowing is a mess, don't drill borrowing — go back and make the bonds automatic first.
Questions parents ask
What grade is this?
Kindergarten through first grade, though it's worth checking in second or third if regrouping is shaky.
My child counts on fingers.
Fine at first. Fingers should get faster and then fade. If they're still slow and deliberate after months, go back to the covered-counters game.
Is it free?
Number bonds and math drills are free to print, with no limit.