Math flash cards online: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division

How these flash cards work

Each card is laid out the way children see sums in school: the numbers stacked, lined up on the right, with the sign on the left. In typing mode, type the answer on a keyboard or tap the big keypad and press Enter. In flip mode, say the answer out loud, flip the card, and tap Got it or Not yet. Flip mode is good with a parent or for children who aren't typing yet.

Missed cards don't just disappear. A card you get wrong, or mark Not yet, goes back into the pile three cards later, so it comes round again while it is still fresh. The score counts right first time separately from right on a second go, because getting it right the second time is learning too.

• Level 1: numbers up to 5. Sums like 3 + 2, takeaways like 5 − 4, and the 0 to 5 times tables.
• Level 2: numbers up to 10. Number bonds to 10, take-aways within 10 and the tables up to 10 × 10.
• Level 3: facts to 20 and the full tables to 12 × 12, with the matching division facts.
• Level 4: two-digit adding and subtracting, and tables beyond 12, such as 14 × 7.

Using math flash cards well

Flash cards work best in short, regular bursts. Five minutes a day does more than half an hour on a Sunday, because remembering something a little later is what makes it stick. Stop while it is still going well, so the next session starts with a good feeling.

• Start at a level where most cards come easily, then add a few harder ones.
• Keep decks small: 10 or 20 cards is plenty for younger children.
• Mix facts once a set is known. Knowing 6 + 7 in a list of sevens is not the same as knowing it on its own.
• Add a clock only once answers are right. Speed comes from knowing a fact, not from rushing.
• Use "Practice these cards" at the end. A short run on the tricky facts is worth more than another full deck.

A strategy for every hard fact

When a card won't come, work it out from a fact you do know, then say the whole fact out loud. Next time it is quicker. Over a few weeks the strategy fades and the fact is simply known.

• Near doubles: 6 + 7 is double 6 plus 1, so 13.
• Make ten: 8 + 5 is 8 + 2 + 3, so 10 + 3 = 13.
• Think addition for subtraction: 14 − 9 asks what adds to 9 to make 14. The answer is 5.
• Times 9: ten groups take away one. 9 × 6 is 60 − 6 = 54.
• Times 4 and 8: double, double, and double again. 8 × 7 is 14, 28, 56.
• Division is multiplication backwards: 42 ÷ 6 asks what times 6 makes 42. The answer is 7.

How it is taught in school

In the US, Common Core expects children to add and subtract within 10 fluently by the end of grade 1 (1.OA.C.6), to know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers by the end of grade 2 (2.OA.B.2), and to know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers by the end of grade 3 (3.OA.C.7).

In England, Year 1 pupils learn number bonds within 20, Year 2 pupils recall the 2, 5 and 10 times tables, and Year 3 pupils add the 3, 4 and 8 tables. By the end of Year 4 children are expected to recall every multiplication and division fact up to 12 × 12, which is what the Year 4 multiplication tables check looks at.

How parents can help

• Play flip mode together: your child says the answer, you flip and cheer.
• Pick one small set a week, such as doubles or the 3 times table, and mix it with facts already known.
• Print the cut-out flash cards below for the car or the breakfast table.
• Praise the strategy, not just speed: "You used double 6 to get 6 + 7, nice."
• Compare only with your child's own last score.