Why number bonds matter
Knowing that 8 and 2 make 10 is the key to adding 8 + 5 in your head: 8 + 2 + 3. Bonds and fact families make that connection visible.NCF and NCERT links
- UKGThe NCF-FS (C-8.6) has children putting together two groups up to 9 and taking some away, then recounting.
- Class 1Children solve sums up to 18 using known facts and see how addition and subtraction undo each other.
- TextbookJoyful Mathematics for Class 1 has a chapter called “Making 10”.
The NCF-FS describes a classroom game in which pairs of children each draw two number cards from 1 to 10, add them using pebbles, and see whose total is closer to 10. It is a good warm-up for a number bond sheet, and the same game works for getting closest to 20.
Indian textbooks may not use the term “number bond”; you may see “ways to make 10” or number pairs instead. The idea is the same: one whole, two parts.
Summarised in our own words from the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCERT, 2022) and NCERT’s Joyful Mathematics textbooks.
