To think that primary schools should teach long division

[ReallyTired]

My son has no clue how to do long or short division or use an equivalent method to work out 484/8

When I showed him he understood and picked up reasonally quickly. I am sure that most children in my class could do long division by the age of eleven.

I feel that children should not reach for the calculator until they learn trig. I think that children's over reliance on calculators is why British children are weak at maths. Also the tenancy to try and teach 15 million different methods of doing division without mastering one!

The % of children that leave school in this country without basic math and English skills

They do! We're doing the traditional method of long division after half term ( I'm a TA in year 6)

I teach long division.

My dd's in Y8 and has known long division for years (bus stop method) her teacher actually asks the class not to use chunking as it is a long and irrelevant method o f division. She is set 1 and always has been!

They do.

In fact I think they teach maths better than I was taught in the 1970s/80s. From first principles, so that children understand what they are doing rather than just being able to do carry out operations. They are also taught mental maths, which I never was

It's easy to get the 'trick' of a formal method of calculation without really understanding what you are doing or why it works. I think that makes it important to work on the principles first. Whether that happens well in every case, who knows! But that's the reasoning in the national strategies.

then I use chunking :) thank you maillotjaune

ds is quite good at maths too

What's the bus stop method?

Jamieandthemagictorch totally agree. I think teaching has improved over the years, which is why GCSE and A-level results have improved.
ReallyTired we start teaching division in Year 1 and this is the same in my DC's school.

Why do you need long division for 484/8? My children would use bus stop method for that, although I also would say you could /2 then /4. I do teach long division, but I do not place a huge emphasis on it to be honest

Y4 DS had to divide 768 by 24 on his last maths homework. So clearly long division is taught in his school at least.

I do that it's quite hard to explain maths to DS as he's evidently taught a different way to the way I try to explain!

768/24 is MUCH easier by chunking:

240+240+240=720 (30 24s)
+24=744 (31)
+24=768 (32)
So 768/24=32

And practising chunking like that gives you the essential number familiarity to move straight to 30x24 etc in long division. And reinforces the multiply/ divide relationship. At Y4 I'd rather see chunking!

i get really tired of people's constant moaning about primary schools.
i don't like primary schools. but it still gets me down.

We DO teach division and long division.

I so love it when people use Mumsnet to spread pointless lies about schools and teachers.

I did that division in my head by 'chunking' in about 2 seconds and I am not particularly numerate 50 x 8 = 400 10 x8=80 1/2 x8=4

60.5

your wouldn't even have written out the long division sum in that time! typed it into the calculator in that time !

I think modern Maths teaching is vastly superior to what I had in the 70s, and I say that as someone who is very able at Maths. Perhaps the application of these methods varies though.

It is important to realise that you can use modern methods and still teach rote learning of times tables (essential IMO) so a return to the earlier poster's grandparents method would achieve little other than putting off less able pupils who don't understand everything.

I have a 7 year old (she's in P4 Northern Ireland) and I'm amazed at how capable she has become at Maths in the past few months. She has no fear of it, which I know sounds strange but the mere mention of the word Maths used to cause me to break out in a cold sweat.

They taught it a primary school when I was there (early 90s). Think it was year 5. It was one lesson which I was absent from due to illness, and I truly could never get my head around it despite my dm trying to explain.

Thankfully don't quite know how I came out with a decent gcse grade at the end of it all though.

I'm another one who goes cold at the thought of Long Division. Even though I mastered it in the end. But I didn't understand it until I learnt chunking (well, figured out my own version of it). Modern maths methods are so much better than how I was taught in the 1970s.

chunking is ok for 484/8 but it would take ages to do 3498 /27 that way

just teach it to your dc yourself if they don't learn it at school.

2700
(divide up 798)
270 + 270 = 540
258 still to deal with
54 + 54 + 54 + 54 = 216
42 still to deal with
27
15/27 left as remainder, which is about 0.4 (could calc precisely).
Or 100 + 20 + 8 + 1 = 129 and 15/27 = answer.

That took me 2 minutes (with the typing) and I understand it.
Not so tough. ABout as fast as I could reliably do the long division and check it.