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Word problems again!

5 replies

user789653241 · 16/08/2015 19:08

Hi! How do I suppose to explain to 7 years old who's not so good at understanding what he needs to do to solve word problems?

"John bought 36 stamps at the post office. The number of stamps in each book was 9 times as large as the number of books. How many stamps were in each book?"

This question was from IXL, Year 5 curriculum.

I also wonder what sort of level could it be, in former national levels , to be able to solve this?

TIA

OP posts:

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JustRichmal · 17/08/2015 08:49

To explain it to a 7 year old I would draw it out for one book then ask them to think about what would happen it they had 2 books.

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Theas18 · 17/08/2015 09:06

Start with MUCH easier stuff. It's not the maths you are trying to encourage is it it's the understanding of that the words are asking you to do so start with the ones he can do and work up ( eg Apples are 10p and oranges are 12p. John buys two of each, how much does he spend? ( extension question how much change from £1?))

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JustRichmal · 17/08/2015 09:54

I agree, it is quite a difficult problem for a child to understand. (I had to think about it).

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Lurkedforever1 · 17/08/2015 11:52

Agree with thea to look for simpler ones at first till he gets the hang of word problems. I'd guess it's meant to be solved trial and error and times table recall for that age.
I'd ask him to look at the two known numbers and see what he notices that might link in, i.e that 9x4=36. Obviously that's incorrect put back into the question but from 9x4 he can easily get to 18x2.

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user789653241 · 17/08/2015 13:47

Thank you for your replies.
Yes, the Question starts off with simpler ones like apple and orange ones, but it gets harder as he progress with questions.
He get's very frustrated when he can't solve it, because he can't complete the skill. But I really have difficulty explaining to him...
So do you think it's ok that he can't do this kind of things yet?
He is kind of perfectionist that he has to finish everything in order.
He is good at mental maths, but word problems are impossible with him.
Lurkedforever, thank you for suggestion, I will try to explain your way.