Maths question help please
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 1:08 pm
Hi all
Can I just check a couple of things that my ds (end of year 5) is doing for maths homework - I know how to do the questions but want to make sure I'm giving the right advice.
He was doing questions yesterday that were like this
2a + 20 / 4 = 9
So the 2a + 20 was all over the same denominator ie 4. I told him that if a sum is over the same denominator then he should write it in brackets. Is that right? It wasn't in brackets so he was trying to do 2a/4 + 20/4 which doesn't give the same answer. He is doing BODMAS at school at the moment (I know I have read on here that they shouldn't be doing that in year 5 but he is so I am just trying to make sure he does it right). I know I assume that I treat it as though it's in brackets.
The other thing is that if we take another question
a/5 -11 = 44
he is just doing it all in his head and when I ask why he is doing what he is doing, he doesn't really know. He just says it's obvious. But I am trying to explain to him that things may seem intuitive when they are relatively simple numbers but they will be problematic when the numbers are more complex. I have tried to explain it with scales on either side of the = sign etc. Should I be insisting that he shows how he is working something out or is it ok at this stage just to do it without any real understanding?
Thanks for any help.
Can I just check a couple of things that my ds (end of year 5) is doing for maths homework - I know how to do the questions but want to make sure I'm giving the right advice.
He was doing questions yesterday that were like this
2a + 20 / 4 = 9
So the 2a + 20 was all over the same denominator ie 4. I told him that if a sum is over the same denominator then he should write it in brackets. Is that right? It wasn't in brackets so he was trying to do 2a/4 + 20/4 which doesn't give the same answer. He is doing BODMAS at school at the moment (I know I have read on here that they shouldn't be doing that in year 5 but he is so I am just trying to make sure he does it right). I know I assume that I treat it as though it's in brackets.
The other thing is that if we take another question
a/5 -11 = 44
he is just doing it all in his head and when I ask why he is doing what he is doing, he doesn't really know. He just says it's obvious. But I am trying to explain to him that things may seem intuitive when they are relatively simple numbers but they will be problematic when the numbers are more complex. I have tried to explain it with scales on either side of the = sign etc. Should I be insisting that he shows how he is working something out or is it ok at this stage just to do it without any real understanding?
Thanks for any help.