Perhaps the hardest thing that children are asked to do in primary school is long division – and many children never master it, not even later in life. The main reason it is so difficult is that involves a number of stages, a good knowledge of tables and multiplication as well as subtraction. Looking at a problem such as 867 divided by 34, there are at least ten distinctive stages to go through:
34)867
First carry out an estimate of the answer. I think 867 divided by 34 is over 20 but under 30.
Then proceed using these steps:
1. How many 34s in 86?
2. 2 x 34 is 68. 3 x 34 is 102 which is too many, so it must be 2.
3. Put the 2 in the tens column above the answer.
4. Place the 68 below the 86 and subtract.
5. 86 – 68 is 18.
6. ‘Bring down’ the 7 to make 187.
7. How many 34s in 187.
8. By trial and improvement and some rough work multiplying 34 by my estimated numbers I find that 34 x 5 = 170.
9. Place the 170 under the 187 and subtract.
10. The remainder must be less than the original number you are dividing by.