The FREE Brick Math Lesson of the Month for December 2025 is in response to a question from a teacher: "Can you help me explain regrouping to my students?" We certainly can! Decomposing is another term for regrouping, and this lesson helps student understand the concept. The lesson comes from Brick Math Addition. To get this lesson, click here, and you'll also get a new free Brick Math lesson every month after that. 

It's important that students start thinking in terms of groups of ten as early as possible, since our number system is base ten. The lesson here shows students how to add, and it also shows the answer in terms of ten. The problem adds the numbers 4 and 9, and shows the answer as 10 + 3, or 13.

Students will use this knowledge as they move forward learning to add and subtract. Using bricks to model the base ten concepts makes them easy for students to understand, and also makes it easy for teachers to teach! The lesson starts with the Teacher lesson plans for the first four pages, followed by the three corresponding pages in the Student workbook. Try this lesson of the month with your students to see the power of Brick Math in action!

MAYbe it's time for a new Brick Math free Lesson of the Month! Let's go back to Addition, and give you a lesson that is foundational to many other lessons throughout the Brick Math curriculum. This one teaches students about place value, and also shows how to add using the place value method. To get this lesson, from Brick Math Addition, click here, and you'll also get a new free Brick Math lesson every month after that. ​ 

In this lesson, the bricks are used to show the  place values of ones, tens, and hundreds. A 1x1 brick models the ones place; a 1x2 brick models the tens place; a 1x3 brick models the hundreds place. Students start by creating models of 3-digit numbers. Once they understand how to model numbers, they use brick models to help them add numbers. It's a great way to explain the concept of place value, which is pivotal to so much math content that students will encounter in the years to come.

Happy 2025! Let's start off the year with a free Brick Math lesson from Addition. It teaches the concept of adding with the "change" number unknown; for example, 2 + ___ = 5. To get this lesson, click here, and you'll also get a new free Brick Math lesson every month after that. ​

An important concept to learn in addition is being able to determine the solution when any one part of the equation is unknown. In the Brick Math program, students start learning to add with an unknown result. They then learn to add when the change number is unknown, and then, when the start number is unknown. In this way, students learn the part-part-whole relationships between numbers.
​

The "Change Unknown" lesson models an equation with bricks, leaving the "change" term blank. Then students develop their own strategies to determine what the change number is,  by counting up, one-to-one correspondence, or by matching studs. The lesson shows students how to move the studs from the start location and place them on the result location, comparing uncovered studs that show the number that will be in the change location. The lesson also gives students practice using the addition vocabulary words addend and sum.

The Brick Math curriculum is divided into 13 separate content areas: 
Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, Decimals, Data and Statistics, and Pre-Algebra. 
​
Students can start anywhere in the curriculum. Brick Math can be used as a complete math curriculum or brought in as a supplement to help students who aren't having math success with other programs. Check BrickMath.com to learn more!

The free Brick Math Lesson of the Month for May is from Brick Math Addition, and it's the first time in the series that the concept of place value is introduced.  To get your free lesson on Place Value Addition, plus a new lesson each month, click here. 
​

Place value is an important idea for students to learn early on. Modeling with bricks makes it easy. Here's the idea: 1x1 bricks model the ones place, 1x2 bricks model the tens place, and 1x3 bricks model the hundreds place. That's as far as we go in this lesson, but soon we will extend the place value modeling idea to thousands, ten-thousands, hundred-thousands, and more!

This lesson shows students how to model place value with bricks, and then it uses those models to show addition within the place values. Students start by modeling the numbers 25 and 123 with bricks. Once they understand the concept, they move to adding two numbers. When students model the math with bricks to show place value, the math becomes clear and concrete. 
​

This lesson first shows the pages from the Addition Teacher Edition, with the step-by-step lesson guide for the teacher to follow. Then the rest of the lesson are the corresponding pages from the Student Edition, which have written instructions and give students a place to draw the models they are building. Try this lesson to introduce your students to the concept of place value. The hands-on nature of building with bricks will help them understand the meaning of place value quickly.
​

Brick Math is a complete math curriculum for kindergarten through 8th grade that models the math with bricks. The curriculum is divided into 13 separate content areas: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, 
​Basic Fractions,   Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, Decimals, Data and Statistics, and Pre-Algebra. Students can start anywhere in the curriculum. It can be used as a complete math curriculum or brought in as a supplement to help students who aren't having math success with other programs.
​

Brick Math works in many applications: for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and affordable.

For an innovative way to teach and learn K-8th grade math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves students' math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program. ​

The October 2023 FREE Brick Math Lesson of the Month comes from Addition Using LEGO® Bricks. It helps students understand that there are many ways to combine numbers. To get the October 2023 Brick Math Lesson of the Month, "How Many Ways to Make 6?" plus a new lesson each month, click here.  Each Lesson of the Month includes the Teacher Lesson Guide as well as the Student Workbook Pages that correspond to the lesson. 

In the lesson, students model all the different ways numbers can be combined that total 6: 6 + 0, 5 + 1, 4 + 2, etc. Building a tower of bricks, students begin to understand what addition really means. It's a foundational skill that early learners need to have, and this Brick Math lesson turns the numbers from abstract to concrete.

If you are a math teacher or a parent with a student at home who is learning K-8th grade math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves students' math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program. 

The Brick Math Free Lesson of the Month for April 2023 comes from the book Addition Using Lego® Bricks. It's a great way to show young learners the meaning of ones and tens, and how to transform 10 ones into 1 ten. 
To get the April 2023 Brick Math Lesson of the Month, "Decomposing Numbers," plus a new lesson each month, click here. ​

This concept is foundational to mathematics, and will appear again and again as students learn about place value throughout the elementary and middle school math curriculum. This simple method of showing how to decompose from ones to tens using LEGO® bricks will help every student fully grasp the concept.

Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model  11 different math subjects: 
Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions,   Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals.

​This year, the program will expand to include grades 6 - 8, with the additional subjects Data and Statistics, Pre-Algebra, and Ratios and Proportions. Brick Math works in many applications: for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and affordable.

If you are a math teacher or a parent with a student at home who is learning K-8th grade math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves students' math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program. ​

Learning to add is an important building block of the math curriculum in the early years. Addition is a foundational skill that leads to success in all the math subjects that follow.

How can a student learn to add in a way that teaches them to understand the why and how behind the process? Here are five keys to learning addition for young students:

1. Putting things together in like sets:
​Addition concepts start to form long before children learn to add in school. When they begin to group things together into like sets, children are beginning to develop the basic idea of addition. A set is a physical representation of a number, and young children learn to group similar items into sets, counting up to the number of that set.
​

2. Strategies of counting on, counting back, and one more: 
​Early number skills provide a foundation for learning addition. Students must be fluent in counting before they are ready to learn to add. When a student has learned to count on (forward), count back, and put one more with a group, the student has progressed far beyond simply memorizing a string of numbers in order (like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), and is ready to learn to add.

3. Direct modeling of the process of addition:
​Many educational researchers have shown that teaching students by directly modeling the math with physical objects leads to greater understanding. Brick Math uses LEGO® bricks to model the math. It’s the perfect tool because of the visual and tactile nature of the bricks. Each stud counts as 1, so students can see and feel the numbers they build.

​4. Vocabulary of math:
​It’s important for students to learn the right words to describe the math they are learning. When they know what the words addend, sum, result, solution, and altogether mean, they can talk about addition. Teachers and parents should be careful to use the term addition symbol rather than plus sign when discussing what is happening in an addition problem. “Plussing” is not a word, and the word plus only represents the symbol of the math, not the action. Every chapter in Brick Math starts with a list of the key vocabulary students will learn in those lessons.

​5. Addition within the context of 10:
Early on, students need to understand that the number system is based on tens. LEGO® bricks can be used to model addition against a physical background of 10 studs. This is a great way to start representing the number system of ones, tens, and eventually, hundreds. The illustration here shows how to model 14 + 5 = 19 with LEGO® bricks while introducing the idea of  groups of ten.

​​Addition is the stepping-stone to all other math, so it’s critical that kids understand it fully.  It leads directly into subtraction as the opposite process to addition. In second or third grade, a firm understanding of the process of repeated addition leads to comprehension of multiplication.
​

Brick Math’s Addition Using LEGO® Bricks is a great way to teach young learners about addition. It starts with teaching the concept of addition and progresses through place value and adding larger numbers. The use of LEGO® bricks to model the math makes it fun to learn, too!

Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model  11 different math subjects: 
​Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions,   Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals. It works well for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and are not shared between students. It adapts easily to online instruction.

If you teach math or have a student at home who is learning math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves student math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program.  

​The lesson starts with the Teacher's Lesson Guide. All the steps for teaching students how to model the numbers 3 and 4 are included.  Then the lesson shows students how to model the addition of those two numbers and find the sum. The corresponding pages from the Student Workbook follow, with space for the student to write responses as well as draw the models they have built.

Happy holidays to all! Here's our present to you: A brand-new Brick Math Lesson of the Month!

For December, we have a lesson from Addition Using LEGO® Bricks. The lesson helps students learn two important concepts:
1.  How to model place values with bricks
2.  How to model addition using those place value models

This is a great way to teach students about place values. The lesson models the ones with 1x1 bricks, the tens with 1x2 bricks, and the hundreds with 1x3 bricks. Once students understand how to model numbers using place values, it’s a short step to learning how to add using place values.

The lesson of the month gives the step-by-step lesson from the Teacher’s Edition first, and then shows the corresponding pages in the Student Edition that students will complete as they learn.

To receive this Lesson of the Month and be registered to get a new one every month, click here.

Learning addition is far more than memorizing “one plus one makes two”! After young students know about counting and cardinal numbers, they need to understand the idea of sets and putting objects together. Building models of addition with LEGO® bricks is the perfect way to show students the action of addition. The bumps on the bricks, which are called “studs,” are a great tool for using one-to-one correspondence to teach addition. Plus (pun intended!), students have fun learning with LEGO® bricks!
 
In Addition Using LEGO® Bricks, the hands-on activities using LEGO® bricks help students learn the concepts of:
• joining sets
• solving part-part-whole problems
• comparisons
• decomposing numbers
• place value 

Brick Math helps students learn addition through its integrated program. The teacher leads students through step-by-step lesson plans. Using the bricks, students create models of the math as they learn. They then draw the models they’ve created and explain how the models work. These different ways of interacting with the bricks lead to a deep understanding of addition.

There are many different ways to model with LEGO® bricks in the Brick Math curriculum, and students have the opportunity to create multiple solutions for problems instead of looking for only one right answer.

Learning math using LEGO® bricks with Brick Math is fun—for the teacher AND the students!
 
Click here for a preview of the lesson, “What Does It Mean to Add?” from Addition Using LEGO® Bricks—Teacher Edition​.