How can I help my DS learn Fractions, his report says ...not quite there with adding FRACTIONS and changing them to DECIMALS

[clottedcreamteawithscone]

So this is what is written so does it mean the teacher hasnt explained it correctly or she has and he doesnt get it!!!

He will be moving to Y6 in Sept so want to help him crack it in the hols.

Any advice on websites?

[Starlightbright1]

I have just ordered a fractions game off ebay for my ds...It hasn't arrived yet so hard to comment on if it any good..Thought it might help through the holidays

[WhatchaMaCalllit]

Websites - no.

Actual practical examples might work better.
For example - a pizza. If you cut it in half it's 1/2 or 0.5 of the original. Cut that again and you have 1/4

Maybe money might be a better example. Have 1 pound and then lots of 10p and 20p and 5p coins and some pennies too.

show that 1 pound is equal to 100 pennies. 1p is 1/100th of a pound. Then 10 pence is 1/10 of a pound as you have ten bundles of 1p coins to make up to 1 pound.

If your son is adding fractions then he's probably being asked something like
1/2 +1/5 = ?

so you have to look at what is under the line and see how you can make that work. You can't add a half and a fifth but you can work in tenths as that works for both of those figures - so 1/2 is 5/10 and 1/5 is 2/10 so that sum would be 7/10. Converting that to Decimals would be 0.70

(I hope my maths works out as it's been a while since I've added fractions too)

[clottedcreamteawithscone]

sorry lost me !!!!

[HowDoesThatWork]

Other useful bits and pieces...

A fraction is a division.

3/4 is the same as 3 divided by 4.

3/4 is the same as three quarters 1/4 + 1/4 + 1/4 or 3 * 1/4

If I share two pizzas between three people, how much does each person get is simply two divided by three = 2 / 3

To convert to a decimal you just do the division (bus stop).

0.75
___
3 |4.00

[Anaffaquine]

I'd also say do lots of practical work using Lego, or bread or anything where he will be able to "see" what is happening not just random numbers.

[Galena]

Just as your columns to the left of the decimal point are hundreds, tens and units and when you have ten of one thing, you have one of the thing on its left, that continues to the right of the decimal, so the first column is tenths, and 10 tenths makes one unit. The next column is hundredths and ten hundredths makes one tenth.

So, 0.54 is 5 tenths and 4 hundredths, or 54 hundredths.

[lantien]

sign up to mathsfactor and do the fractions sections? Or do there summer school which would probably cover fractions? You'd have to pay for that.

This says ks3 but could help BBC bitsize

www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic/fractions also free.

[lantien]

[[http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/number/ KS2 bitesized fraction section.

[lantien]

www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/number/

[BrilliantDayForTheRace]

Do remember the teacher has to write something on the report!

It doesn't necessarily mean you have to teach them. Just that that's what he's up to now. If she didn't write this she'd write something else with the exact same format. (i.e. not quite there yet with X)

Help him if you want to - but don't panic. School will teach this to him next year.

This is one of a hundred things he has to learn next year.....

[Zodlebud]

Would seriously recommend these www.gltc.co.uk/educational-toys/fractionpercentage-tower-cubes/gltc/fcp-product/10000001921?kpid=10000001921&kpid=10000001921&gclid=CP3GkJmgpsYCFUPLtAodSNsOlw

My Y1 daughter is on the gifted and talented register when it comes to maths. The school have been really good at stretching her so she's interested but not so much she can't cope. Using these blocks she has picked up Y3/4 fraction work with ease. Before the blocks came along she looked at me like I was from another planet!!!

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

First, make sure he understands what each number in a fraction means i.e. the bottom number is the number of equal parts something has been divided into, the top number is the number of parts you are talking about.

If he's got that then I would start with adding fractions with the same denominator where the answers are less than 1 e.g. 2/4 + 1/4, 4/6 + 1/6. Get him to draw a circle (pizza) or rectangle and divide it into quarters. Ask him to colour 2/4 in one colour and 1/4 in another. How many are coloured altogether. Write it as a number sentence underneath and look at what happens to the bottom number (stays the same) and the top number (relate to known number bonds).

If he can do that Ok then check he can convert fractions into an equivalent fraction (by multiplying the top and bottom number by the same number). If he can, then you can start to introduce adding fractions where the denominators are different, but can easily be converted to fractions with the same denominator e.g halves and quarters, thirds and sixths, thirds and ninths, quarters and eighths. Convert the fractions so they have the same denominator first, then just add them in the same way as you did in previous questions.

[Littlefish]

Are his times tables absolutely secure, both as multiplication and division?