Learning Fractions is a Major Part of Middle School Math ProblemsLearning fractions and its associated arithmetic skills is one of the hardest topics in elementary math problems and middle school math problems. A child who does not understand fractions when he encounters them in his 5th grade math problems or 6th grade math problems, will probably also have trouble with fractions operations in higher math like algebra and trigonometry. It is vital that your child gain proficiency at solving problems using the fractional operations of adding fractions, subtracting fractions, multiplying fractions and dividing fractions. Mastering these applications of fractions is not just for the sake of gaining educational skills, but, even more critical, facility with fractions is an important life skill! We use fractions for so many everyday situations like: baking and cooking, tallying up hours and minutes worked for pay, sharing a sum of money or a box of cookies equally among friends or siblings, calculating discounts for sale prices, etc. If you find your child struggling to understand and complete fractions homework, I would recommend you sit and do the homework with your child for a few days and see if you can diagnose the problem. You should assess the following issues:
 , which is available pretty cheaply, from amazon.com. I use this book myself for skills development in my elementary math curriculum and middle school math curriculum. I have found the explanations clear, graphics understandable, and the fractions problems migrate from easier to harder in a logical manner.
(see the end of this page for more great fractions practice books and games you might want to try!)
A great online resource for detailed fractions lessons for all fraction operations, is www.homeschoolmath.net. Using Money to Teach Fractions We can show how ten dimes make up one dollar, so each dime equals 1/10 of a dollar, pennies are hundredths of a dollar, but tenths of a dime. Nickels are 20ths of dollars, but halves of a dime. 
Give your child opportunities to help you "make a dollar" out of different combinations of coins. Here are a few more ways to use coins to teach math skills to your children.
To master basic understanding of how fractions can add up to one whole, (two halves, four fourths, etc), I have given my own children a set of Learning Resources® Rainbow Fraction® Tiles It's amazing to watch even my five-year-old son align 2/4 (2 fourths) and 8/16 (8 sixteenths) to concretly grasp the concept of fractional equivalencies. Learning fractions is much easier when good fractions manipulatives Want more helpful tips and ideas to help your child with learning fractions and other key topics for math success? Complete the form below to receive the Sensible Math Tips - the e-Zine for parents.
Show me YOUR TOP RECOMMENDED homeschool curriculum books for covering math topics Show me fun fractions games.
|
which they all love and fight for turns to play with.
are part of the instruction. This helps children better visualize the concepts they're trying to learn.
