Fact Family

When my son brought home his first Fact Family worksheet, I had no idea what I was looking at.

All I saw was a triangle with some numbers in it and a bunch of equations.

I'm not sure if this is a new way of teaching or if I've just forgotten about fact families.

Either way, we worked our way through it and handed in a perfect paper the next day.

He seems to work well with these types of problems so I thought I'd create a few math worksheets for him (and you) to supplement his homework.

What Is A Fact Family?

While the numbered triangle confused me at first, the concept is simple. The triangle contains three numbers that can all be used with each other to form 4 different equations. There are addition and subtraction families along with multiplication and division families. This page will deal with addition and subtraction facts.

Let's say we're given the following three numbers: 8, 6, and 2. You can use these three numbers with addition and subtraction to arrive at the following equations:

6 + 2 = 8

2 + 6 = 8

8 - 6 = 2

8 - 2 = 6

The family reinforces basic addition facts and rules. It shows that the order in which you add numbers together doesn't change the final result--this is also known as the Commutative Property of Addition.

These families also show the relationship and similarities between addition and subtraction. For example, 10 - 8 = 2 is similar to 2 + 8 = 10. Same numbers, different process.

When my son has trouble with subtraction (don't we all?) he has learned to turn it into an addition problem. Using the example above, instead of trying to subtract 8 from 10 in his head, he figures out what he needs to add to 8 to get to 10. I believe that studying these fact families has really improved his math skills.

Fact Family Worksheets

Use the math worksheets below to build upon the concepts explained above. There are two basic types of papers.

In the first set with the yellow triangles, the student is given the numbers and must then show the addition and subtraction relationships between them.

You'll notice a questions mark in some of the families. Your child can write in any number to complete the problems.

The second set (featuring the school house) is a bit different. Some of the numbers are already filled in, while others are missing. Again, if there is a question mark, your child can enter any number. One problem is missing all three numbers in the family.

Clicking a picture below will open a downloadable file in another tab.