What are Learn Its?

Ask a child their name and they answer straight away. They don’t work it out. They just know it.

That is exactly how we want children to know their Learn Its.

Learn Its are the number facts at the heart of Big Maths. There are just 72 of them, and every one is an addition fact or a multiplication fact. Once a child knows all 72, they have the strongest foundation of number knowledge we can give them.

They are facts, so just learn them

We give children a very simple message about Learn Its. Each one is a fact. It was true yesterday, it is true today and it will be true tomorrow. 6 + 4 will always be 10. 7 × 8 will always be 56.

Because the answer never changes, there is nothing to work out. So we say to children: it’s a fact, it won’t change, so just learn it!

That message matters. It tells children that these 72 facts are not puzzles to solve each time. They are things to know, in the same way they know their own name, their address or the days of the week.

What does “knowing” a Learn It look like?

A child knows a Learn It when they can give the answer instantly. No counting on fingers, no counting up in their head, no pause to think. If you ask “What is 6 + 4?” the answer should come back as quickly as it would if you asked “What’s your name?”

If your child gets the right answer but needs a few seconds to work it out, that is a good start. It shows they understand. It just isn’t a Learn It yet, so that fact needs a little more practice.

Why only 72?

72 is a small number for what it unlocks. Children don’t need to learn subtraction facts and division facts as separate lists, because every Learn It is part of a Fact Family.

A Fact Family is a small group of facts that use the same three numbers. If a child knows the Learn It 3 + 4 = 7, the Fact Family gives them three more facts:

3 + 4 = 7
4 + 3 = 7
7 − 3 = 4
7 − 4 = 3

It works in the same way for multiplication and division. Knowing 6 × 4 = 24 also tells a child that 4 × 6 = 24, 24 ÷ 6 = 4 and 24 ÷ 4 = 6.

So children learn the addition and multiplication facts, then use the Fact Family strategy to know the subtraction and division facts that go with them. You can read more in our guide: What are Fact Families in primary maths?

The 72 Learn Its

The 72 Learn Its are the addition and multiplication facts made from the numbers 2 to 9. There are 36 of each. Each fact appears once in the grids below, because a child who knows 3 + 4 also knows 4 + 3.

The 36 addition Learn Its

The 36 multiplication Learn Its

To read a grid, pick a number from the left and a number from the top. The square where they meet is the answer. So in the first grid, 7 and 5 meet at 12, which is the Learn It 7 + 5 = 12.

Learnt in small steps

Nobody is asked to learn 72 facts at once. In Big Maths the Learn Its are spread across 15 steps, with only a handful of new facts in each one. Along the way children also pick up the easier facts that sit around the 72, such as adding 1 and multiplying by 1, 10, 11 and 12, and they practise every fact both ways round.

By the time a child reaches Step 13 there are only six multiplication facts left to learn. Everything else in the 6, 7 and 9 times tables has already been met in an earlier step.

Why Learn Its make such a difference

Almost everything in primary maths is built on these facts. Column addition, long multiplication, fractions, word problems and mental maths all rely on them again and again.

When a child has to stop and work out 7 × 8 in the middle of a bigger question, it uses up thinking space. They can lose track of what they were doing and the whole question starts to feel hard. When the answer is simply there, all of their thinking is free for the new learning in front of them.

This is why knowing their Learn Its supercharges a child’s fluency and mental maths. It isn’t the whole of maths, but it is the foundation that makes the rest of maths easier to reach.

How you can help at home

Learn Its are best learnt a few at a time, with short practice that happens often. Two or three minutes a day will do far more than half an hour once a week.

• Find out which facts to practise. Your child’s teacher can tell you which Learn Its they are working on at the moment.
• Keep it quick and light. Ask a few facts in the car, on the walk to school or while tea is cooking.
• Listen for instant answers. If your child has to work one out, tell them the answer, say it together and come back to it later.
• Use the Fact Family. Once a fact is secure, ask the facts that go with it: “If 6 + 4 is 10, what is 10 take away 4?”
• Remind them of the message. It’s a fact. It won’t change. Just learn it!

The Big Maths Beat That! app gives children a way to practise their Learn Its at home and shows you which facts they know and which still need work.

Common questions about Learn Its

How many Learn Its are there?

There are 72 Learn Its in Big Maths: 36 addition facts and 36 multiplication facts, all made from the numbers 2 to 9.

Are there Learn Its for subtraction and division?

No. Children use Fact Families to know the subtraction and division facts that belong with each Learn It, so there is no separate list to learn.

How fast should my child be able to answer?

Instantly. The aim is for the answer to come as quickly as it would if they were asked their own name.

My child can work the answers out. Isn’t that enough?

Working it out shows good understanding, and that is worth praising. The aim of Learn Its is the next step: knowing the fact without having to work it out, so their thinking is free for harder maths.