What you will learn
Read these out loud together. Tick them off at the very end of the lesson — that's your own report card.
Read a ten-frame
See how many counters, and how many empty spots, without counting one by one.
Find the ten-mate
Answer "7 and ___ make 10?" fast — with your fingers or your head.
Solve a story
Use "how many more?" to help Mia fill her basket of ten apples.
Flash! Dot snap
Look for one second. Say the number out loud before you flip. No counting on fingers yet — snap it!
Snap, say, check
- The dots appear. One look only.
- Whisper the number to yourself.
- Flip — were you right?
- Then say the ten-mate: "Seven! Seven needs three!"
Six cards in a round. Tap New round to shuffle them.
The ten-frame and its secret
Scroll slowly. The frame on the left changes with each step — talk about it as you go.
1 · Meet the frame
Ten spots, two rows of five. It always holds exactly ten — that's why we trust it.
2 · Drop in seven
Count them as they land. Then look — do you see the empty spots right away?
3 · Ask "how many more?"
That question is the whole lesson. Empty spots = the number you need.
4 · Fill it up!
Three more land in the empty spots. Now the frame is full: 7 and 3 make 10.
5 · Say them all
1&9 · 2&8 · 3&7 · 4&6 · 5&5 · 0&10. Six families of ten-mates. That's everything!
👉 Now you poke the frame
Tap the squares to drop counters in and out. Make ten and watch what happens.
Jump to the playground ↓Your turn at the frame
Two games. First, free play with the frame. Then the ten-mate quiz — the one that makes you quick.
🧺 Counter playground
What goes with it to make 10?
Three little stories
Read each one out loud. Point at the words. Then pick your answer — the frame will help if you want it.
Ten-Mate Memory
Turn over two cards. If they add up to ten — 1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, 5 and 5, 0 and 10 — they're ten-mates and they stay open. Find all six pairs.
🎉 All six ten-mates found! 🎉
Say them out loud: 1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, 5 and 5, 0 and 10.
Spot the pattern
Patterns are maths too! What comes next? Say the pattern out loud as you point — red, blue, red, blue…
🎨 Make your own
Build a pattern. Can the grown-up guess what comes next? Tap a colour, then tap your strip to remove a piece.
Six words to own today
Use them out loud in the kitchen, in the car, at bath time. Maths words are just words — but they make maths clearer.
Ten frame
A little grid with exactly ten spots.
Ten-mate
The number that joins yours to make ten.
How many more?
Counting the empty spots.
Altogether
Both parts pushed into one big number.
Double
The same number twice.
Empty
Nothing inside — that's zero, 0.
Kitchen spoons & the hiding game
This is the part that makes it stick. Real objects, real hands, five minutes at the table.
- Count out 10 spoons (or beans, blocks, buttons) and put them in a row of five, twice — that's your paper ten-frame.
- Close your eyes. The grown-up hides some behind their back. Open them: how many are hiding?
- Count what's left, then use "how many more to make ten?" to work out the answer. Swap turns!
✂️ Make a paper frame
Draw two rows of five squares on paper. Glue ten pasta shells in a bag — carry your ten-frame in your pocket all week.
Three quick questions
No rush. Answer out loud first, then tap. Getting it wrong is how your brain grows — say "oops, try again" and go.
1 · 8 and ___ make 10.
2 · Nine frogs sit on a log. Ten frogs dive in the pond. How many MORE frogs?
3 · Type the number: 4 and 6 make ___.
Notes for whoever is sitting next to them
Everything on this page in one place: the why, the words to use, and what to do if today felt wobbly.
Why ten, and why now?
Our whole number system is built on tens. A child who can snap to 10 — 7 and 3, 6 and 4 — has a springboard for every addition and subtraction that follows. 13 + 5 becomes easy when you can take 2 from the 5 to make 10, then count on. Number bonds to 10 are the single highest-value fact set in Year 1 / Grade 1.
Language to use out loud
Say the same three phrases every time, so they become automatic: "How many more to make ten?" · "What's the empty-spot number?" · "Say it together: 7 and 3 make 10." Insist on full sentences — "Six and four make ten" beats pointing at an answer.
If today felt hard
Stop at five. Work with 5 instead of 10 for two days (bonds to 5 are the same idea, smaller), then step back up. Use physical counters and hide them under a cup — the "how many more" question is easier when the emptiness is real. Skip the memory game; keep the quiz to three cards.
If today felt easy
Stretch, don't speed up. Ask: "What if the frame had 20 spots?" (bonds to 20). Or "If 7 + 3 = 10, what is 70 + 30?" — that transfer is the point. Try the hiding game with two cups and a total of 10 split unknown between them.
Watch for these slips
Counting all ten spots instead of the empties · answering 17 to "7 and 3" (adding the digits together) · skipping a number when counting the frame left-to-right. All normal. Fix with fingers: hold up 7, ask "how many more fingers to make ten?" — the answer is literally on their hand.
Month Two · Lesson 6 — Doubles & the Odd One Out
Double 5 is 10, so what's double 6? We build the doubles staircase and hunt the pattern that doesn't belong.
Nine stickers to collect
Finish a part of the lesson and its sticker pops onto the chart. Fill all nine and you get the whole golden ten.