The 'Making Ten' strategy simplifies tough addition problems like 8+5 by breaking them down: first make a ten (8+2), then add the leftover part of the second number (10+3) to easily get 13.
Instantly knowing the 'partners of 10'—pairs of numbers that add up to 10, like 3 and 7—is a foundational mental math skill that can dramatically speed up more complex calculations.
When subtracting from a number with multiple zeros, like 1000, a simple pattern emerges: the zeros you borrow across become 9s, and only the final number in the ones place becomes 10.
