A good understanding of place value is crucial for successful mental arithmetic and progress with written methods of the four rules. The value of a digit depends on its place in the number. For example: the 2 in 1 234 is worth 200 whilst the 2 in 4 321 is worth only 20. Our whole number system is based around this idea but don’t be surprised if your children find it difficult – many do! It seems quite an old fashioned idea to place the letters HTU to stand for hundreds, tens and units, above a number or sum, but it does help with this understanding and in reading numbers out loud.
In year 4 children are expected to read numbers up to the thousands. Many books separate the thousands from the hundreds by a very small gap and when we write the number in words we place a comma between the thousands and the rest of the number. The reason for this is to help with reading the number.
Maths worksheets: Partition into ThHTU. Y4
Maths worksheets: Partition into ThHTU Y4