Maths help for parents of children aged 5 to 11
A similar page to one posted earlier, this again looks at decimal fractions and how to manipulate them. The first set of questions involve changing decimals, using either the multiplication or division keys of the calculator, in just one step.
The second set of questions use the add or subtract keys.
Whilst the calculator is used, nevertheless a good understanding of number and place value is needed to be able to do these quickly and efficiently.
A calculator is needed for this page as changes have to be made to decimals, using just one step. This is a good practice page for understanding multiplying and dividing decimals by 10, 100 or 1000, as well as some nifty mental arithmetic adding and subtracting. It is the second of our pages for the Year 6 plans for Counting, partitioning and calculating. (Block A Unit 3 Week 2) which most schools wil be following next week.
This page can be found in our Year 6 Plannning resources as well as in the Understanding Number section.
By Year 6 children should have a good understanding of place value, including decimals. Decimal fractions are often best taught in the context of money, but this only covers tenths and hundredths. This maths worksheet looks at thousandths as well. There two main parts: firstly, writing the value of decimal fractions in words and secondly, writing decimals in digits using the decimal point correctly.
Just like whole numbers a digit becomes ten times smaller when it is moved one place to the right after the decimal point, so the digit 6 in 0.467 is 6 hundredths and the 6 in 0.356 is 6 thousandths.
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.
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!)
It is not often that you see maths for primary school children which includes thousandths. But the justification is that in certain areas of measurement children might well come across them. For example there are 1000 metres in a kilometre so a distance might be written as 2.345 k, where the 5 is 5 thousandths of a kilometre. The same can be said of litres and ml. So decimal fractions including thousandths are here to stay!
Once again, when looking at ordering numbers it is the digits to the left which are most important e.g. 0.1 is bigger than 0.09.
Again the hardest question here is probably the last: being able to write a number bigger than 0.09 but smaller than 1. An easy way to do this is to keep the hundredths digit the same and a thousandth is added e.g. 0.091. Of course 0.0900000000000001 would do equally well and some children like to explore these possibilities.
It is important that children recognise that the value of a digit depends on its place in the number – otherwise we could only possibly have 9 numbers and zero! So the digit 1 in 120 has a different value than the 1 in 210. It is, of course ten times bigger as it is 100 rather than 10.
By Year 4 children should be applying this idea to decimals. The first column to the right of the decimal point is tenths so the 1 in 2.1 has a value of one tenth.
This maths worksheets looks at both place value and ordering simple decimal fractions. Children probably come across decimal fractions more often with money than any other area and it is a really good way to show place value eg one penny is £0.01, or one hundredth, whilst 10p is £0.10 or one tenth of a pound. (Notice we always put two digits after the decimal when using money, but not at other times.)
Fractions and decimals are two of the sticking points in maths, but here we have a maths worksheet which neatly combines the two, showing the equivalence between fractions and decimal fractions. Many children do not realise the link between a digit written after the decimal point and a fraction i.e. 0.2 is the same as 2/10.
One way to show this is to use the fraction as a division sum. 2/10 can be seen as 2 divided by 10. Do this on a calculator to get 0.2. Also remember, to divide by ten mentally, just move each digit one place to the right, putting in the decimal point if moving from units to tenths.