What a child will be able to do
- Number: count forwards and backwards to 100; read and write numbers to 100; understand tens and ones; compare with <, > and =
- Calculation: know number bonds to 10 and 20 by heart; add and subtract two-digit numbers; understand multiplication as repeated addition; know the 2, 5 and 10 times tables; understand division as sharing and grouping
- Fractions: find halves and quarters of shapes and amounts
- Measures: measure length, weight and capacity; tell the time to the hour, half and quarter hour; recognise coins and work out change
- Shape: name 2D and 3D shapes and describe their properties
A Year 2 child who isn't secure on number bonds to ten should be doing number bonds to ten. There is no point moving on — everything after it depends on it.
Part 1 — Counting and place value
Count forwards, backwards, and from anywhere. Most children can count forwards from one; fewer can count backwards, and fewer still can start from a number in the middle — "count on from 47," "count back from 23." These are harder and more useful.
Counting in steps
| Step | Sequence | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 2s | 2, 4, 6, 8, 10… | Leads to the 2 times table, and odd/even |
| 5s | 5, 10, 15, 20… | Leads to the 5 times table, and telling the time |
| 10s | 10, 20, 30, 40… | Leads to place value and the 10 times table |
Tens and ones
47 means four tens and seven ones.
Use straws, lolly sticks or pencils. Bundle them into tens with an elastic band. Ask for 34 — the child takes three bundles and four loose sticks. A child who has physically bundled tens understands place value in a way no picture achieves.
Comparing numbers
| Symbol | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| < | is less than | 14 < 41 |
| > | is greater than | 62 > 26 |
| = | is equal to | 30 + 5 = 35 |
The open mouth always eats the bigger number. 8 > 3 — the mouth is open towards the 8. It's a memory trick rather than mathematics, but it works and children remember it.
✅ Practice — number and place value
- Count on from 36 to 45
- Count back from 20 to 10
- How many tens and ones in 58?
- Write forty-two in digits
- Which is bigger: 27 or 72?
- Put in order, smallest first: 45, 14, 54, 41
- Fill in <, > or =: 36 ___ 63
- Count in 5s from 5 to 50
Part 2 — Addition and subtraction
Number bonds — the foundation
Number bonds to 10 must be known by heart — not worked out, known: 0+10, 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5 (and reversed). Then bonds to 20: 13+7, 15+5, 12+8, and so on.
A child who knows 6 + 4 = 10 instantly can work out 26 + 4, 46 + 4, and 6 + 4 + 20. A child who counts on their fingers every time is spending all their thinking on the counting and has none left for the problem. This is the single highest-value thing to practise in KS1. Five minutes a day, every day.
Adding two-digit numbers
Partitioning: 34 + 23 → 30 + 20 = 50, 4 + 3 = 7, 50 + 7 = 57. Counting on: start at 34, add 20 → 54, add 3 → 57. Column addition (Year 2):
Start with the ones, then the tens. When you need to carry — 47 + 25: 7 + 5 = 12, write the 2 and carry the 1 ten; 4 + 2 + 1 = 7:
Subtraction — three ways
Counting back: 45 − 3 → 44, 43, 42. Partitioning: 58 − 24 → 50 − 20 = 30, 8 − 4 = 4, → 34. Counting up (finding the difference): 52 − 47 → 47 to 50 is 3, 50 to 52 is 2, 3 + 2 = 5.
When the numbers are close together. 52 − 47 by counting back means seven steps and lots of chances to slip; counting up takes two. Teach both, and let the child choose.
6 + 4 = 10, so 10 − 4 = 6 and 10 − 6 = 4. One fact gives you three others — a fact family, which halves how much a child has to learn.
✅ Practice — addition and subtraction
- 7 + 3 =
- 6 + ___ = 10
- 15 + 5 =
- 32 + 24 =
- 47 + 26 =
- 39 − 5 =
- 68 − 34 =
- 61 − 58 =
- If 8 + 5 = 13, what is 13 − 5?
- There are 24 animals. 6 are birds. How many are not birds?
Part 3 — Multiplication and division
Multiplication is repeated addition
3 × 4 means three lots of four: 4 + 4 + 4 = 12. Or draw it — three rows of four:
5 × 2 is "five lots of two." 2 × 5 is "two lots of five." Both are 10 — worth noticing: multiplication can be done either way round.
The times tables for KS1
2s: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20… 5s: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30… 10s: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50…
2s always end in 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8 — the even numbers. 5s always end in 0 or 5. 10s always end in 0. Children who notice the patterns learn the tables far faster than children who chant them.
Division two ways
Sharing: 12 carrots shared between 3 animals — deal them out one at a time, like cards: 4 each. Grouping: 12 carrots, 4 in each bowl — make groups of 4: 3 bowls. Sharing answers "how many each?"; grouping answers "how many groups?" Children usually meet sharing first, but grouping is what they need for division later. Teach both.
4 × 3 = 12, so 12 ÷ 3 = 4 and 12 ÷ 4 = 3. Another fact family.
✅ Practice — multiplication and division
- 2 × 5 =
- 4 × 2 =
- 3 × 10 =
- 6 × 5 =
- 10 ÷ 2 =
- 20 ÷ 5 =
- 12 carrots shared between 2 animals. How many each?
- 15 pieces of food, 5 in each bowl. How many bowls?
- Count in 5s to 40
- If 5 × 4 = 20, what is 20 ÷ 4?
Part 4 — Fractions
A half is one of two equal parts — the two parts must be the same size. ½ of 8 → share 8 into 2 equal groups → 4; ½ of 10 → 5; ½ of 6 → 3.
A quarter is one of four equal parts. ¼ of 8 → 2; ¼ of 12 → 3; ¼ of 20 → 5.
Two quarters make a half (¼ + ¼ = ½); four quarters make a whole (¼ + ¼ + ¼ + ¼ = 1).
Fold a piece of paper in half. Then in half again. Open it out — four equal parts, and two of them cover half the paper. Thirty seconds, and it does more than any worksheet on the topic.
✅ Practice — fractions
- ½ of 12 =
- ½ of 20 =
- ¼ of 8 =
- ¼ of 16 =
- There are 10 animals. Half are asleep. How many are asleep?
- There are 12 carrots. A quarter are eaten. How many are eaten?
Part 5 — Measures
Length, weight & capacity
Length: long/short/tall + longer/longest; units cm and m. Non-standard first — measure in hand-spans, footsteps, cubes, then introduce the ruler as "a thing everyone agrees on." Weight: heavy/light; g and kg — hold two things, which is heavier, then check on scales (a large light thing can feel heavier than a small dense one). Capacity: full/empty/half full; ml and l — which bowl holds more? Pour from one to the other to find out.
Time
Year 1: o'clock and half past. Year 2: quarter past, quarter to, and to five minutes.
| Time | Long hand points to |
|---|---|
| o'clock | 12 |
| quarter past | 3 |
| half past | 6 |
| quarter to | 9 |
At half past three the short hand is between the 3 and the 4, not on the 3 — children read it as four o'clock. Point at it every single time: "Which number has it just gone past?"
Money
Coins: 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1, £2. Totals: 20p + 10p + 5p = 35p. Change: I have 50p and spend 35p → change = 15p.
Use real coins. A plastic tub of change and a pretend shop teaches more in ten minutes than a page of pictures. Coins have different sizes and weights, and that's part of how children learn to recognise them.
✅ Practice — measures
- Which is longer: 20 cm or 2 m?
- Which is heavier: 500 g or 2 kg?
- What time is it when the long hand is on 6 and the short hand is between 2 and 3?
- How many minutes in an hour?
- 20p + 20p + 5p =
- I have 50p and spend 20p. How much change?
- How many days in a week?
- Order these: 1p, 50p, 5p, 10p
Part 6 — Shape
2D shapes — flat
| Shape | Sides | Corners |
|---|---|---|
| Circle | 1 curved | 0 |
| Triangle | 3 | 3 |
| Square | 4 equal | 4 |
| Rectangle | 4 | 4 |
| Pentagon | 5 | 5 |
| Hexagon | 6 | 6 |
3D shapes — solid
| Shape | Faces | Everyday example |
|---|---|---|
| Cube | 6 square | Dice |
| Cuboid | 6 rectangular | Cereal box |
| Sphere | 1 curved | Ball |
| Cylinder | 2 flat, 1 curved | Tin |
| Cone | 1 flat, 1 curved | Party hat |
| Pyramid | 5 (square-based) | — |
2D shapes are flat. 3D shapes you can pick up. A square drawn on paper is 2D; a box is 3D. A child who says "the dice is a square" needs to be shown that a square has no inside.
Describing shapes — teach the vocabulary: sides · corners · faces · edges · curved · straight. "A triangle has three straight sides and three corners." "A cube has six faces, and every face is a square." Patterns: repeating patterns (🔴🔵🔴🔵…) using colours, shapes, sounds or movements — clapping patterns count.
✅ Practice — shape
- How many sides does a triangle have?
- How many corners does a square have?
- Name a 3D shape with 6 square faces
- Is a ball 2D or 3D?
- What shape is a tin of food?
- Continue the pattern: circle, square, circle, square, ___
Part 7 — Word problems
Read them aloud. The maths is easy; the reading is the hard part at this age. Answers are in the answer key below.
Answers
Number and place value
1. 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 2. 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10 3. 5 tens and 8 ones 4. 42 5. 72 6. 14, 41, 45, 54 7. 36 < 63 8. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50
Addition and subtraction
1. 10 2. 4 3. 20 4. 56 5. 73 6. 34 7. 34 8. 3 9. 8 10. 18
Multiplication and division
1. 10 2. 8 3. 30 4. 30 5. 5 6. 4 7. 6 each 8. 3 bowls 9. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 10. 5
Fractions
1. 6 2. 10 3. 2 4. 4 5. 5 6. 3
Measures
1. 2 m (200 cm) 2. 2 kg 3. Half past two 4. 60 5. 45p 6. 30p 7. 7 8. 1p, 5p, 10p, 50p
Shape
1. 3 2. 4 3. Cube 4. 3D 5. Cylinder 6. Circle
Word problems
1. 10 animals 2. 7 carrots 3. 10 treats 4. 5 in each 5. 700 g 6. 3 o'clock 7. 20p 8. 10 awake 9. 20 animals 10. 10 cm each
The mistakes to watch for
Counting the first object as zero. Some children touch the first item and say nothing, then start counting. Watch their finger, not just their voice.
Not knowing the total after counting. They count to six and then count again when asked how many. This is cardinality and it needs work before bigger numbers.
Reading the short hand as the number it's nearest. At half past three it's between 3 and 4, and children say four. Point at it every time.
Thinking a longer number means a bigger number. 100 is not bigger than 200 because it has more zeros in the middle.
Confusing 2D and 3D names. A dice is a cube, not a square. A ball is a sphere, not a circle.
Losing the maths in the reading. A child who can do 12 − 5 may not be able to do it inside a word problem. Read it aloud, then ask what they need to find out.
Teaching notes
Number bonds to 10 are the priority above everything else. Five minutes a day. Not written — spoken, fast, playful. A child who has to count 6 + 4 has no capacity left for the actual problem.
Physical apparatus for longer than feels necessary. Bundled straws for tens, real coins for money, actual folded paper for fractions. Children move to abstract methods when they're ready; moving them early creates children who follow a procedure without knowing what it means.
Teach both methods for subtraction and let the child choose. Counting back for numbers far apart, counting up for numbers close together. Choosing a method is itself a mathematical skill.
Word problems should be read aloud at KS1. The maths in them is usually easy; the reading is what stops children. Separating the two tells you which is actually the problem.
Patterns before rules in times tables. A child who notices that the 5s all end in 0 or 5 has learned something they can use. A child who has chanted the table has learned a song.
For children who find maths distressing — and some do, this early — keep it oral and practical for as long as possible. Written maths carries the memory of getting things wrong on paper. Counting real objects usually doesn't.