Daisy's Bun Stall Daisy helps Grandad at the bun stall every Saturday. This morning they baked forty-seven buns. That is a lot of buns to count one by one. So they do something clever. 5
Trays of Ten Buns go in trays. Every tray holds exactly ten. Daisy has four full trays. That is forty buns. She has seven loose buns left over. Forty and seven make forty-seven. 7
A Second Batch Then Grandad brings out the second batch. Three full trays and eight loose buns. That is thirty-eight more. How many buns are there altogether? 9
Line Them Up Grandad shows Daisy how to write it down. The ones go under the ones. The tens go under the tens. Now the numbers are in tidy columns, ready to add. 11
Always Start on the Right Here is the golden rule. Always start with the ones. The ones live in the column on the right. So Daisy begins with seven ones add eight ones. 13
Fifteen Loose Buns! Seven loose buns add eight loose buns makes fifteen loose buns. But wait. Something is wrong. You can never have fifteen loose buns on the stall. Ten of them belong in a tray. 15
Bundle Up a Ten So Daisy takes ten of the loose buns and fills a brand new tray. That leaves five loose buns behind. Fifteen is one tray and five loose. One ten and five ones. 17
Write Five, Carry One Daisy writes the five under the ones column. The new tray is not a one any more. It is a ten. So it moves next door. She writes a small one at the top of the tens column. That is called carrying. 19
Now Add the Tens Next comes the tens column. Do not forget the little one that travelled across. One tray, add four trays, add three trays. That makes eight trays. 21
Eighty-Five Buns Eight trays and five loose buns. Eighty-five buns altogether! Daisy counts the real buns on the stall to check. Eight trays. Five loose. She is right. Grandad says she is the fastest counter on the whole market. 23
Your Turn Try this one yourself. Fifty-six add twenty-seven. Start with the ones. Six add seven makes thirteen. That is one ten and three ones. So write three, and carry the one. Then the tens: one add five add two makes eight. The answer is eighty-three. 25
The Three Steps Column addition is really just trays and loose buns. Start on the right. Bundle ten ones into a ten. Carry it next door. Do that every time, and you can add any numbers in the world. 27