For example, show him that the number 37 is actually three 10-blocks and seven ones. Use your base-ten blocks to show your child that each digit in a number represents a place value rather than just a number.
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If you don’t have a set of base-ten blocks, you can print some free at DIY Math Manipulatives. Place value games are also very effective. They can be used to build whole numbers as well as decimals and provide learners a deeper understanding of the meaning of each concept. Studies have shown that base-ten manipulatives are the best way to communicate the concept of place value because they teach in such a simple, visual, concrete way. If your child doesn’t understand it at a conceptual level he’ll struggle as he moves on. It’s necessary for addition, subtraction, exponents, long division, fractions and almost every other math operation. Place value provides the foundation for mathematical understanding and that’s exactly why it’s so critical to understand. Our base ten (decimal) system can represent any number from infinitesimally small to infinitesimally large reliably and consistently. It was a cumbersome system and still not a great way to talk about very large or small numbers.Ī positional notation system like our current Hindu-Arabic system is elegant and simple in that it uses only ten unique symbols (0-9) but allows users to reuse them, just assigning them different values based on their position in the sequence. Letters represented numbers, and a lesser “number” in front of a larger “number” meant it should be subtracted, while a lesser “number” following a larger “number” should be added.
Immediately prior to the invention of our current number system Roman Numerals were used. And it was wholly incapable of talking about very small numbers, like bacteria sizes or the makeup of atoms.
That wasn’t a horrible way to talk about medium-sized numbers, like how many sheep you wanted to trade, but it was insufficient to talk about very big numbers, like the stars of the sky or the sands of the sea. During Earth’s history, tally marks and other symbols were originally used to represent amounts of things. That’s why it’s important to teach this abstract concept in a way that makes it seem more concrete and therefore easier for young minds to grasp. It will be difficult to make him understand that a 3 in the tens place actually represents 30 things, bundled up as 3 things. If you tell your 5-year-old (who knows his numbers backwards and forwards and seems ready to learn place value) that a 1 in the 1’s place represents 1, but in the 10’s place it represents 10 and in the 100’s place it represents 100, you’re likely to get a blank stare, or maybe laughed at.Īfter all, your 5-year-old knows that a 1 is just a 1. The next step is a more abstract concept than number correspondence, and abstract concepts are more difficult for young minds to grasp. Young brains are well equipped to deal with concrete, literal concepts.Īs hard as it was to equate the word nine with the symbol 9 with nine objects, you have to take things a step further in order to teach place value. Number correspondence is very concrete (you’re counting actual things) and literal. That’s called number correspondence, and it’s hard work to understand that the symbol 9, the word nine and nine objects are the same thing.
Then you demonstrated counting over and over, using marshmallows or toys, or counting the cars that drove by or the steps you climbed, teaching your child that those numbers he chanted meant something. It was almost like a chant, “one, two, three…” and as such it didn’t mean the same thing to him as it did to you. Your child probably learned to count by rote as a toddler. It’s a simple but profound concept.Īs simple as it is, it can be a very challenging concept for little people to grasp. Place value is essentially the numerical value a digit has by virtue of its position in a number.
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Math games familiarize your kids with math lingo because they teach in a different way than textbooks, plus they reinforce a daily habit of learning and they drill math concepts in a fun way that disguises the fact that it’s drill. Place Value Games Place Value Games are a Fun Way to Start the DayĪ great strategy for reinforcing math concepts is to start each day with a fun math game.
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