When children begin division they usually write the question with a remainder. However, remainders can be written as fractions, making a more accurate and complete division answer. This is usually introduced in year 4 and we have an excellent worksheet coming up next week on division with remainders written as fractions.
Another aspect of division is to use decimals rather than remainders and we will also be publishing a page on division by 10. The key to understanding division by 10 is also the key to understanding place value: that is, if a digit moves one place to the right it becomes ten times less. So all you have to do to divide a number by 10 is to move each digit one place to the right – but watch out to include the decimal point if necessary!
It’s getting towards colder weather now and a good time to introduce negative numbers. Children are most likely to come across negative numbers when using a calculator but they are usually taught about them in the context of measuring temperature. Number lines are also very helpful as they show that numbers continue after zero when counting down. We will be publishing a maths worksheet on negative numbers next week.