11/08/2026
Knowing the answer is not the same as understanding the maths.
Over the years, working with children who struggled with maths, I noticed something again and again:
Often, we had to go back to the foundations.
What quantity does **5** actually represent?
Can I recognise it without counting one by one?
Do I understand that 5 can be split into 2 and 3, 4 and 1, or 5 and 0?
What does zero mean?
And why do ten ones become one ten?
When we made numbers visible and tangible — with quantities, objects, movement, games and stories — I often saw children begin to make connections that had previously been missing.
**That experience is one of the main reasons I wrote *Magical Jungle Math – Tales of Ukabongo*.**
And this isn't just something I found useful in practice.
The **National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)** emphasises that mathematical fluency is more than fast recall. Children need conceptual understanding alongside procedures and opportunities to develop flexible strategies and understand number relationships.
Memorising number facts has its place — but it shouldn't replace understanding.
Because mathematics keeps building on what came before.
A sturdy foundation makes everything that follows easier to build.
And that is what Ukabongo is about: experiencing quantities, discovering numbers and their relationships, asking questions, playing, thinking — and gradually building mathematical understanding.
Understand it. Explore it. Practise it. Use it.
What has helped your child or your students really understand maths — rather than simply remember the answer?
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