Same math.
New drawings.
Your kid’s math looks different from yours. It’s the same arithmetic. Number lines, disks, strip diagrams... It looks like doodles, but here’s what each one means, from a Texas educator.
Ten ones trade for one ten. That trade is the carry.
Your way, their way
keep yours on the left, flip through theirs on the right
How you learned it
625both ways
How you learned it
367both ways
How you learned it
144both ways
How you learned it
24both ways
How you learned it
4.25both ways
How they’re learning it
that code on the school paper?
What’s a TEKS?
TEKS stands for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills: the state’s list of what students learn in each grade. Every code is a grade, a group of skills, and one skill. Tap one to read it.
Adding and subtracting to 1,000
TEA’s wording: “solve with fluency one-step and two-step problems involving addition and subtraction within 1,000 using strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and the relationship between addition and subtraction.”
Comparing and ordering big numbers
TEA’s wording: “compare and order whole numbers up to 100,000 and represent comparisons using the symbols >, <, or =.”
Perimeter and area of rectangles
TEA’s wording: “solve problems related to perimeter and area of rectangles where dimensions are whole numbers.”
Every chart
Every method your child might be shown for one problem, on one page, so you can find the one on their paper.
Addition
367 + 258 = 625One problem, added six ways: from disks you can count to the way you were taught.
6 strategiesSubtraction
625 − 258 = 367Borrowing, counting up, counting back. Same answer, six routes to it.
6 strategiesMultiplication
24 × 6 = 144Equal groups, arrays, area models, and how they turn into the way you were taught.
6 strategiesDivision
144 ÷ 6 = 24Division asks two different questions. Here are both, and six ways to answer them.
6 strategiesPlace value
34,502What each digit is worth, written six ways, and why dropping a zero changes the number.
6 strategiesRounding & Estimating · Grade 3
367 + 258 = 625Rounding as a spot on a number line, and how to tell if an answer makes sense.
6 strategiesRounding & Estimating · Grade 4
4,367 + 2,258 = 6,625Rounding to any place, friendly numbers, and checking that an answer is close enough.
6 strategiesFractions · what they are
3/4A fraction is one number, not two. Six ways to see that.
6 strategiesFraction strips wall
same wholeOne whole cut nine ways. Read down to find equal fractions, across to see which is bigger.
one chartFractions · adding & subtracting
3/5 + 4/5 = 1 2/5Adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators, modeled.
6 strategiesDecimals
2.45 + 1.8 = 4.25Tenths and hundredths. Everything you already know, one place further right.
6 strategiesStrip diagrams
The bar picture Texas calls a strip diagram, and the six shapes a word problem takes.
6 strategiesTables & number rules
A table hides a rule. How to find it, check it on every row, and use it on a row nobody printed.
6 strategiesArea
7 × 12 = 84 square unitsThe squares inside a rectangle, counted six ways, and why it isn’t the distance around.
6 strategiesPerimeter
12 + 7 + 12 + 7 = 38 unitsThe distance around a shape, walked six ways, including the missing side the standard asks for.
6 strategies2D figures
Six yes-or-no tests that sort any flat shape, by sides, angles, parallels and folds.
6 strategiesSorting shapes · question tree
Answer yes or no about the shape in your hand, and the tree walks you to the one name that fits.
one chartAngles
What an angle measures, how to read a protractor, and the two numbers you subtract.
6 strategiesData & graphs
Tally chart, dot plot, pictograph, bar graph and stem-and-leaf, all holding one set of counts.
6 strategiesSee a real question, worked out
One question from each skill, walked through step by step, with the mistakes that turn up most and what to do about each one.
See the sample questions →If yours is younger: Pre-K and Kindergarten
Six things young kids work on in math, like why your child can count to thirty without being able to tell you how many.
See the early learning skills →More practice
Every printable that goes with these charts, each linked to its listing on Teachers Pay Teachers.
See the printables →For families: start here
Your child’s grade on one page: the charts that go with it, and a real question for each skill, worked out.
See the families page →