Adding within 20
Strategies: counting on, near doubles, and bridging through 10. Year 1 and Year 2.
Year 1 children add within 10, then 20 by Year 2. The expectation is mental fluency — without counting on fingers for the easier ones. Three core strategies cover everything in this range.
Worked examples
Counting on: 7 + 3. Start at 7, count 8, 9, 10. (Best for adding 1, 2 or 3.)
Near doubles: 6 + 7 = (6+6) + 1 = 13. Doubles are well-rehearsed, +1/-1 is fast.
Bridging through 10: 8 + 5 = (8+2) + 3 = 10 + 3 = 13. Use the bond to 10.
Frequently asked questions
Are fingers OK?
For Year 1, yes. By end of Year 2 children should be fluent without fingers for sums to 20.
Should we drill or use a method?
Both. Methods (bridging, near doubles) let children work out unfamiliar facts; recall takes over once a fact is known.
What about reading the ‘+’ sign?
Year 1 introduces it formally with ‘equals’ (=). The equals sign means ‘the same as’ — not ‘the answer comes next’.