who the chuff thought teaching division through chunking was a good idea???

[sausagesandwich34]

it's stupid, long winded and confusing

that is all!

How would you use chunking when dividing by, say, 71?

I would do
2x71=142, 4x71=284, 10x71=710, 20x71=1420 ( using doubling and place value)
so 5x71=355, ( halving 710)
which should be enough facts to use for most purposes! I would then chunk with these.

I would say the chunking method is great for people who do not have a natural aptitude for abstract thinking and/ or maths, ie people like me and quite a few others on here. It is how I always did and do maths in my head. Officially I am rubbish at maths though.

DS who is good at non verbal reasoning, maths, and is very structured in his approach to problem solving did not get on with chunking at all. It confused him, whereas long division works really well for him. He found chunking " messed maths up".

I think it is good if schools teach both methods, as chunking is not the best way for every child.

But long division is chunking, just written differently.

Chunking isn't even the best way for every calculation! Thanks for the demo, Lougle :) More convinced than ever that while chunking is a nice to have, bus stop is essential!

I think you've misunderstood me, noblegiraffe . I've never used chunking routinely in education (I was taught bus stop method before I learned division in school - parents). I don't think that chunking is better than any other method, nor do I think it is particularly useful with more complex numbers.

What I was pointing out, is that however labourious, chunking will work whatever the number.

I love bus shelters

Thanks, I see.

Chunking has only been invented so I can't help ds with his homework. Same with number lines.

The only thing I am able to help with is times tables.

When was this method of teaching introduced? I assume as I am an 'older mother' I am at a distinct disadvantage.

Sorry, Lougle, my post was a bit garbled. When I was saying that chunking isn't the best way for every calculation it was in response to Chandon's comment that it wasn't the best way for every child. But then we cross posted and so it was even more confusing than originally written!

I think chunking as a way of understanding division, including long division is great. It's probably how mental division should be approached. But like the grid method, it's horribly inefficient. My heart always sinks when I see a child doing the grid method with large numbers, knowing that a zero is going to go astray somewhere.

Teach them chunking, teach them the grid method by all means. But then show them how much faster the bus stop and Napiers are.

I hate chunking. DS1 finds it clunky and irritating. Mostly because I taught him long division when he was 5/6 and he wanted to know how to divide bigger numbers. So by the time they got around to teaching long division at school, when he was 8/9, he'd already been doing the 'bus stop' method for 3 years.

So to him, the school insisting on 'chunking' winds him up no end.

DD and DS2, however, far prefer chunking to old fashioned long division.

DS1 just finds it 'faffy', and finds the bus stop method quicker. But then he can do the tables in his head. He can recite his 36 times table. For fun.

I on the other hand, can't recite the 8 times table properly. But still can't use chunking.

If I need to do long division, I grab a scrap of paper out of my bag, and scribble the sum on there.

Better than me, Couthy, if I need to do long division, I grab my phone out of my bag and boot up the calculator

The "method" that is nowadays called chunking is surely just the method most adults use to work things out (even approximately) in their heads on a daily basis?

Absolutely, Bonsoir, but I think the issue is that these days the 'workings' are given more credit than the answer, so there has to be a way that you can write it down.

I'm new to chunking and my daughter is really struggling with it. Is the old method still valid or do they need to show all the workings out on chunking to get the answer correct?

TIA