MathIt BlogArticles by MathIt
Multiplying and dividing decimals: count the places, move the point
How to multiply decimals by counting decimal places, how to divide a decimal by a whole number or by another decimal, the powers-of-ten shift, money and measurement examples, and the four mistakes behind most wrong answers.
How to simplify fractions: a step-by-step guide to simplest form for parents
What simplest form means, how to reduce a fraction step by step or in one move with the greatest common factor, the divisibility shortcuts that speed it up, improper fractions and mixed numbers, and the three mistakes that cause most wrong answers.
Negative numbers explained: how to add, subtract, multiply and divide them
What negative numbers are, how the number line, opposites and absolute value work, the rules for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing negative numbers, why a negative times a negative is positive, and the mistakes that cost the most marks.
Subtracting fractions step by step: unlike denominators, whole numbers and mixed numbers
How to subtract fractions with like and unlike denominators, find the least common denominator, subtract a fraction from a whole number, regroup mixed numbers and check every answer by adding back.
Area and perimeter explained: the fence, the carpet and the formulas
What area and perimeter measure, how to find both for a rectangle step by step, why area uses square units, the same-perimeter experiment, L-shaped figures and the mistakes that cost the most points.
How to multiply fractions: the rule, the area model and mixed numbers
The three-step rule for multiplying fractions, why it works on an area model, how to cancel first, how to multiply fractions with whole numbers and mixed numbers, and the mistakes that cause most wrong answers.
Ratios explained: what a ratio is and how to find equivalent ratios
What a ratio is, part-to-part versus part-to-whole, how to simplify ratios and find equivalent ones, the cross-multiplication test, unit rates, scaling a recipe and the four mistakes that cause most wrong answers.
Subtraction with regrouping explained for parents: why one ten becomes ten ones
What your child's teacher means by regrouping, why nobody says borrowing anymore, and how to walk through 52 − 27 and 403 − 168 with coins at the kitchen table.
Greatest common factor and least common multiple: how to find them
What the GCF and the LCM are, three ways to find them with worked examples, the GCF × LCM shortcut, when to use which, and the four mistakes that cost marks.
How to teach rounding numbers with a number line, before the rhyme
Why 47 rounds to 50, why 5 goes up by agreement, how rounding to the nearest tenth works, and the four mistakes that turn 4,782 into 48 at the kitchen table.
How to divide fractions with keep-change-flip, and why it works
What 3 ÷ 1⁄2 means, the keep-change-flip steps, the common-denominator proof of why they work, fractions divided by whole numbers, mixed numbers, and the four mistakes children make.
Skip counting for parents: the counting habit that grows into multiplication
What skip counting is, why schools start with 2s, 5s and 10s, how socks, nickels and dimes make it concrete at home, and when to stop counting and start learning the times tables as facts.
Exponents explained: what the small number means and the rules that follow from it
What the base and the exponent mean, how powers of 10 connect to place value, the five laws of exponents with worked examples, why any number to the power of 0 is 1, and the mistakes that cost marks.
Math word problems: the routine that stops the freeze
Your child can do the arithmetic and still stalls on the story. This guide gives a seven-step routine, four ways to draw a problem, and the key-word traps that send children straight to the wrong operation.
Number bonds explained for parents: the pairs that make later math fast
A plain explanation of the circle-and-branches diagram on your child's worksheet: the six bonds of 10, the four facts each one carries, and a five-minute kitchen-table routine.
Long multiplication explained: the order that makes it stick
The order that makes long multiplication stick: the times-table check, 36 × 24 as an area model, the placeholder zero, and the four mistakes that ruin the second row.
Decimals explained for parents: reading, comparing and using them at home
Decimals break the one rule children trust about numbers: more digits means bigger. This guide explains decimal place value, the padding step that settles any comparison, and the money and kitchen examples that make it stick.
Place value explained for parents: what it is and how to help at home
Place value is why the 3 in 347 is worth 300 and why carrying, borrowing and decimals work at all. This guide covers what each grade is expected to know, four ways schools show a number, and five kitchen-table steps that build it.
Mean, median and mode explained, with worked examples
Three summaries of the same list of numbers give three different answers, and all of them are correct. Here is how to find the mean, the median and the mode, with worked examples, the even-count rule and the mistakes that cost marks.
Prime numbers explained: how to spot them and why they matter
What makes a number prime, why 1 is left out, the square-root test that settles any number under 100, prime factorization with factor trees, and the six mistakes children make.
New math homework, decoded: what each strategy is for
Number bonds, open number lines and area models look strange to anyone who learned to carry the one. This guide explains what each strategy does, which old method it leads to, and how to help without contradicting the teacher.
Fractions explained for parents: what school teaches now and how to help at home
Fractions changed since most parents learned them. This guide explains equal parts, the number line, equivalent fractions, comparing and adding with unlike denominators, with worked examples you can do at the kitchen table.
How to calculate percentages: three formulas and the mental shortcuts
Every percentage question is one of three calculations. Here are the three formulas with a worked example each, the 10% trick for doing them in your head, and the mistakes that make a sale price or a news headline come out wrong.
How to teach long division, with worked examples
The four steps of long division, three fully worked examples, the partial quotients method many schools teach first, and the mistakes that cost the most marks.
How to Get Better at Math as an Adult: A Realistic 60-Day Plan
Most adults who feel bad at math have three or four specific gaps rather than a general weakness. Here is how to find them in 20 minutes and close them over 60 days.
Signs of dyscalculia in children: what parents notice first
How dyscalculia shows up at different ages, how to tell it apart from math anxiety or a missed topic, who can carry out a real assessment, and what helps at home in the meantime.
The order of operations, worked out step by step
One rule, several acronyms, and one detail almost everyone gets wrong. Five worked examples from a single multiplication up to nested brackets with an exponent, plus an honest answer to the viral equations.
Math Skills by Grade: A Parent Checklist for Grades 1 to 6
What children are expected to master in each of grades 1 to 6, the 20-second checks that show whether a skill is there, and what to do at home when you find a gap.
Mental math tricks you can learn in one sitting
A working set of calculation shortcuts for adults and older students: the rule, a worked example, the mistake it invites, and the drill that makes it automatic.
Learn the times tables fast: the ten facts that take real work
Most of that frightening grid runs on rules and patterns. This guide names the ten multiplication facts your child has to memorize and sets out a four-week routine that fits into ten minutes a day.