Dear Family,
In this chapter the class looked at a variety of fractions, ranging from halves to twelfths. We also learned how to convert fractions into other forms and how to add, subtract and multiply fractions. Here are some ways you can support you child and us at home:
- Use fractions and the language of fractions at home, e.g. when dividing up food (cutting up pizzas, a cake, a bar of chocolate), when baking (half a teaspoon, a quarter of a kilogram, half a dozen eggs).
- Look for fractions when out shopping (e.g. half-price). Ask your child to calculate the current price or what it was before the reduction.
- Be careful about using fractional language accurately, e.g. there's no such thing as a big half or a small half! To make fractions, we must be creating equal parts. Encourage your child to be accurate and to recognise that if something is divided into two/four/eight parts, etc. that are not equal, then they are not halves, quarters, eights, etc.
- If your child is having trouble converting fractions or adding, subtracting or multiplying fractions, encourage them to use concrete materials and/or draw pictorial representation, e.g. pie pieces or number lines.
