Where should you start with basic arithmetic?
Start with place value—what tens and ones mean—then explore addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Fractions and decimals build on those ideas when whole numbers are no longer enough.
You might be splitting a café bill, doubling a recipe or helping someone with homework. The same few ideas keep turning up. These seven short reads explain them with things you can picture.
Read from the top for a gentle start, or jump straight to the bit that trips you up. There is no need to sit through a lesson you already understand.
1. Tens and ones: why 24 is not 42
Two tens and four ones make 24. Swap their places and you get 42. Start here if digits sometimes feel like symbols to memorise rather than quantities you can picture.
2. Addition: what happens when things join up?
Three postcards on the table, two more from a friend: now there are five. Addition joins amounts. Begin with things you can count, then let the plus sign tell the same story.
3. Subtraction: what is left, or what is the gap?
You baked eight biscuits and ate three. Five remain. Subtraction can also compare amounts: someone with eight biscuits has three more than someone with five.
4. Multiplication: stop counting every biscuit
Four plates, three biscuits on each: twelve altogether. Multiplication gives equal groups a short name. The groups must be equal; four plates with different amounts need a different calculation.
5. Division: share fairly, or count the groups
Share twelve biscuits between four people and each gets three. Or put twelve biscuits in groups of three and count four groups. Same numbers, two useful questions.
6. Fractions: a half needs two equal parts
A half is one of two equal parts of a whole. Two very uneven slices do not become halves just because there are two of them. This guide makes the size of each piece matter.
7. Decimals: what happens after the dot?
The 5 in 0.5 means five tenths, which is half of one. Money makes a familiar starting point, then we look beyond the coins to see what decimal places actually represent.
Prefer to learn one step at a time?
The Maths from zero Academy course starts with counting and includes short checks with explanations. For parts of a whole, pick Fractions from zero.
Already comfortable with the basics? Try dividing by five by doubling first. It is a small example of how understanding a calculation can make it quicker, too.