The ground floor of Feynman

Aaliyah

Number sense, adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, and the first steps of algebra, built from the very first idea, with an everyday picture for everything. We always go seed → picture → symbol: the math you can touch comes before the math you write.

No timers · no scores · mistakes grow your brain

🎁 Why we are really here

Every step on this path is building toward algebra.

Algebra is absolutely essential. It is the gateway that every later subject runs through, fractions and percentages, geometry, science, money, coding, and every grade of math after this. Number sense and the four operations are not the destination; they are the rungs we climb so the door to algebra, and everything past it, can open.

Jump to the keystone ↓

1. Number Sense

A number is just how many: a way to hold an amount in your head.

What a number is

Grades K–2

Like claps you can hear.

Counting in order

Grades K–2

Like stepping stones across a stream.

More, less, and the same

Grades K–2

Like two towers of blocks side by side.

Bundling into tens

Grades 3–4

Like rubber-banding ten straws into a bundle.

2. Addition

Addition is putting groups together and counting what you have now.

Putting groups together

Grades K–2

Like pouring two bowls of berries into one bowl.

Number bonds: the family of a number

Grades K–2

Like a number is a family that can sit in two rooms.

Carrying is just making a new bundle

Grades 3–4

Like an egg carton that holds exactly ten.

3. Subtraction

Subtraction is finding what is left, or how far apart two amounts are.

Taking away

Grades K–2

Like a jar of cookies someone eats from.

The gap between

Grades 3–4

Like two towers, measuring the step between them.

4. Multiplication

Multiplication is adding the same-size group again and again, fast.

Lots of equal groups

Grades 3–4

Like rows of seats in a tiny movie theater.

Why order doesn't matter

Grades 3–4

Like tilting your head to look at the theater.

5. Division

Division is splitting an amount into equal shares, and seeing what's left over.

Sharing fairly

Grades 3–4

Like sharing candy so nobody cries.

Leftovers (remainders)

Grades 5–6

Like sharing candy when it doesn't come out even.

6. Fractions

A fraction is a number that lives between the whole numbers: a part of one thing.

Breaking one into fair parts

Grades 3–4

Like sharing one chocolate bar.

7. Into Algebra

★ Essential · don't skip

Algebra is the doorway to everything else: a letter or box is just a wrapped present, a number we haven't unwrapped yet. Master this and the rest of math opens; skip it and the door stays shut.

Algebra is absolutely essential. It is the gateway every later subject runs through: fractions and percentages, geometry, science, money, coding, and every grade of math after this. Nothing past here opens without it, so this is the one strand no child should skip.

The wrapped present

Grades 5–6

Like a wrapped present.

Keeping the scale level

Grades 5–6

Like a balance scale that must stay level.

Built on Stanford early-childhood research (DREME, youcubed) in the Feynman spirit. The math helper runs as a local model on your own machine. Nothing a child types or uploads ever leaves the device.