Backgammon is a brilliant way to strengthen mental arithmetic because every move involves quick counting, combining numbers, and planning ahead. Children naturally practise adding, splitting, and recognising number patterns as they play, all without it feeling like a lesson. It builds speed, confidence, and flexible thinking with numbers….. If your child finds mental arithmetic challenging,…
Why You Must Teach Number Bonds First — And Why Our Add-to-13 Game Then Becomes Effortless 👇 Building number fluency shouldn’t feel like hard work — and at Fables World, it isn’t.But before any game becomes truly easy, children need something essential: effortless number bonds. Without strong number bonds in place, children rely on fingers,…
Did you know that weak adult numeracy costs the UK economy around £20 billion per year? That’s the staggering estimate from National Numeracy, highlighting how poor number skills lead to lost productivity, lower wages, and increased public spending. This isn’t just a personal issue — it’s a national crisis. But it’s not just the UK.…
A study from the University of Oxford has found that adolescents who stop studying maths after age 16 have lower levels of a key brain chemical (GABA) in areas linked to reasoning, problem-solving, and learning. This chemical is essential for tackling complex problems — the very skills that will be in high demand in an…
Children Who Are Strong in Maths by Age 10 Go on to Earn Significantly More as Adults — Give Your Child a Strong Maths Foundation Before It’s Too Late! As parents, we all want our children to succeed. It’s easy to think they’re “doing fine” when they pass a test in primary school, but passing…
When I was a child, my mum made me play every card game she could find to help with mental arithmetic. We spent hours around the kitchen table but I still used my fingers to count. She couldn’t understand why it just wouldn’t click. It wasn’t until years later when we developed our own unique…
Counting backwards is one of the most important early maths skills and yet it doesn’t come naturally to many children. Research shows that early number sense (especially subtraction and counting backwards) is the strongest predictor of long-term maths confidence and success. 💔 In fact, a 2022 study showed that nearly half of children who struggle…
I believe there are two types of people: those who find mental arithmetic easy—and those who don’t. But that doesn’t mean they can’t. They just need a different way to learn. Mental arithmetic is one of the most important skills your child will ever develop. It’s not just about speed; it’s about truly understanding how…
Let’s face it – snack time is sacred, as it often brings calm and good humour to children and parentsin.But what if I told you it’s also a brain-boosting opportunity hiding in plain sight? In today’s Fables World video, I’m slicing up a banana and using it to sneak a little mathematics into your child’s…
Leo thought he was just bad at maths—but it was crushing his confidence in everything. That’s why the government created the Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check (MTC): to spot kids struggling with times tables before it affects their future. In this video, we explain why the MTC matters—and how our story-led approach at Fables World…