Maths Blog - Free Maths Worksheets, Resources and Reviews

Coming Soon: Addition, subtraction and money problems

Next week we have a page explaining how to subtract 19 from a 2-digit number. The easiest way to do this is usually to take twenty and then add one and is much quicker than using pencil and paper methods. We will also be publishing the second of our adding two 4-digit numbers using the standard written method. Also coming soon is a page of money problems most suited to Year 3 children.

With just a week or two left of the long summer holiday it’s probably not easy to think about maths, but just 10-15 minutes in the evening can just clear the cobwebs, ready for a new year!

Year 5 maths worksheet: add decimals mentally (2)

$add-decimal-fractions-mentally-2$ Another in our series of adding decimals mentally, suitable for year 5 children. A good understanding of place value and decimals is needed for this, especially for the second set of questions.

Look out for a common error. For example: 0.3 + 0.48 answered as 0.51. In this case the 0.3 has been thought of as 0.03 and added to the hundredths when it should be added to the tenths, so the correct answer is 0.78.

We are looking for quick responses to these types of question. If children are taking a long time over them it might be because they have not learned their addition facts to 10 sufficiently so that they still need to count on to work the answers out.

Further similar pages to this can also be found in our Four Rules section.

Add decimal fractions mentally (pg 2)

Resource of the Week: Divide by 5 mentally

Learning tables is considered an essential to maths progress, and indeed, it is vital. But knowing tables is only a starting point: these facts then need to be used. The most obvious use other than to multiply numbers is to do the reverse; to divide numbers. We have a number of resources which look dividing ‘in your head’ including this one on divide by 5 mentally.

Essentially it is the reverse of a times table sheet and highlights that if 4 x 5 = 20 is known then 20 divided by 4 = 5 should come quickly after it.

Mental arithmetic: divide mentally

Time: Finding lengths of time (2)

This is the second in our time worksheets for Year 3 children. It is quite a bit harder than the first as it deals with hours and minutes rather than just minutes.

With the analogue displays the best way to approach this is to count on the whole hours and make a note if necessary, and then count on the extra minutes, usually in steps of 5 minutes.

With the digital display again work out the hours and then count on. This can be tricky as you may need to stop at the hour before if the minutes on the later time are less than the minutes on the earlier time (sounds complicated but an example would be from 6:55 to 8:20, only count on one whole hour to 7:55).

Finding lengths of time (pg 2)

Mental Arithmetic: Add 29, 39, 49 to any 2-digit number

Here we continue with our mental arithmetic series on addition by looking at adding 29, 39 and 49 to 2-digit numbers. Make sure that your child is confident with adding 9 before going on to these. Once again the process is the same: add the nearest whole ten and then subtract 1. Once this has been mastered similar techniques can be used to add 2-digit numbers that have 8 in the units, subtracting two rather than one, which makes adding any 2-digit numbers fairly straightforward!

This page, and many others, can be found in our Year 4 maths worksheets under Knowing Number Facts.

Add 29, 39, 49 to any 2-digit numbers

Coming Soon: Mental arithmetic and time.

The emphasis is on mental arithmetic next week. We continue with our mental arithmetic series on addition by looking at adding 29, 39 and 49 to 2-digit numbers. Also there is a tricky page on adding decimal fractions mentally, suitable for Year 5.

We also have our second in a series of time worksheets, looking at how long it is between two times which are at least one hour apart, using both digital and analogue clock faces.It is often useful to make jottings with these types of question, whether you count on the hours or the minutes first.

Talking of time, how the summer holiday seems to have flown by and it is only a couple of weeks before its back to school.

Year 5 maths worksheet: Adding decimal fractions mentally

$add-decimal-fractions-mentally-1$ This page is all about using mental strategies to add decimal fractions. Before attempting this children should be able to add two 2-digit whole numbers in their heads and have a good understanding of place value.

The mental process of adding 2.4 and 3.7 is almost the same as adding 24 and 37; in fact many people just ignore the decimal to work the answer out and then insert it at the end. Again, it is perfectly normal to add the units first and then the tenths, which is the opposite of doing it on paper.

The second half of the page looks at adding tenths and hundredths. A good way to look at this is to think of it as money ie adding pence and writing the answer as pounds (but without the sign!)

Add decimal fractions mentally (pg 1)

Resource of the Week: times tables number search

Looking for something to get the brain going again towards the end of the summer holiday? We have some great resources in our Puzzles section, including this one which is a number search using the 3 times table.

All of the 3 times table up to 10 can be found somewhere in the number search, either across or down, but it is not as easy as it looks as there are plenty of ‘red herrings’.

This is just one of quite a large selection of puzzles which MathSphere has given us for the site.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday!

3x table number search

Time: Finding lengths of time in minutes 1

Reading clock faces is a tricky subject for many children, especially as they see time displayed digitally more now than ever before.

This page looks at finding lengths of time under an hour by comparing two clock faces.

There are several stages of development with this and children should be able to count up in fives confidently before starting this exercise.

At first children will probably go round the clock face counting in fives. later they might well move in 30 minute or 15 minute blocks.

Finding lengths of time, reading clock faces (pg 1)

Standard written addition of 4-digits

Addition of two 4-digit numbers is usually done on paper, using the following standard method:

The method is to add the units first, put the units in the answer, and ‘carry’ the ten into the tens column. Then add the tens and continue in the same way into the hundreds and finally the thousands.

A clearer explanation is available on the first page of the worksheets, together with a page of questions, but briefly:

Looking at 5687 + 2546 the steps are:

Step 1: add the units

7 + 6 = 13

Put the 3 in the units below the question.
Then place the one ten below the answer in the tens column.

Step 2: add the tens
8 (tens) + 4 (tens) + 1 (ten) = 13 (tens)
Place the 3 (tens) in the tens column and the 1(hundred) in the hundreds column below the answer.

Step 3: add the hundreds
6 (hundreds) + 5 (hundreds) + 1 (hundred) = 12 (hundreds)
Place the 2 (hundreds) in the hundreds column and the 1(thousand) in the thousands column below the answer.

Note: there may not always be tens, hundreds or thousands to carry.

Step 4: add the thousands
5 (thousands) + 2 (thousands) + 1 (thousand) = 8 (thousands)
Place the 8 (thousands) in the thousands column.
Answer: 8233

Standard addition of 4-digits (pg 1)