Every sum comes with the thinking behind it. You will see how it works first, then do more of it yourself, until you just know it.
Saved on this device only. Each strategy moves through three phases: New (not met yet), Building (working it out with the steps shown), Fluent (just knows it).
Strategies, not flashcards. Children reach quick recall by first deriving unknown facts from known ones — 7×6 from 7×3 doubled. Practice that jumps straight to memorising skips that middle phase, so every item here is attached to a named strategy and the strategy is taught, not just mentioned afterwards.
The steps fade out. A new strategy first appears as a fully worked example with only the answer missing. Get it right and one step disappears, then another, until the sum stands alone. Removing the last steps first (backward fading) transfers better than removing the first ones, and pairing it with "why does this work?" questions improves it further.
Mixed on purpose. After a short blocked run on the new idea, the rest of the session interleaves strategies, so the child has to decide which approach fits rather than repeating one on autopilot. Mixed practice feels harder and tests worse in the moment, but produces markedly better retention later.
Spaced return. Once a strategy is solid it comes back after one session, then two, then four — expanding intervals rather than daily repetition.
Pictures that disappear. Ten-frames, number lines and arrays show why a strategy works. They appear while a strategy is being built and drop away as it becomes fluent.
Wrong answers get named. Common errors — adding a group instead of removing one for ×9, taking the smaller digit from the larger, rounding on the wrong digit — are recognised and explained, rather than just marked wrong.
No speed pressure by default. Ten questions, stars that only go up, and mistakes framed as "not yet". The timer above is available but off, for the reasons given beside it.