Incremental change is a mathematical term that should understand by the primary child
Over recent decades, a Japanese word meaning incremental improvement, kaizen made itself known in the business world. However, what is an increment, if not a percentage? Once again, mathematical language has found its way into general language. The beauty of kaizen is that it looks at slight changes over time. It becomes a way of thinking rather than a once-off activity.
Fruition Tuition can assist in the development of mathematical skills in primary school for your child. Before a child understands increments, fractions, and percentages, they must first master basic operations. Those operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Addition and subtraction require an agile mind that recognizes place value and can work from right to left. Brain agility is learned, like everything else, through practice and guidance. If your child is struggling with any of these concepts, consider maths tuition from our knowledgeable team at Fruition Tuition.
It is better to get assistance when a problem is small, rather than wait until later primary years when a child begins to falter with multiplication, division, and fractions. Multiplication demands that you know place value without pausing. Automaticity is what this is called. Again, consistent application and practice will settle the concept into their brain. Setting the table for a two-course dinner for the number of family members is a practical application of multiplication. This activity is also helpful for students who need concrete examples of concepts. Abstract conceptualization develops somewhere between grades three and five, so finding concrete examples of mathematical concepts is always a promising idea. If multiplication is not becoming automatic then may I encourage you to book in for an assessment at one of our local tuition centers?
The division is the foundation of fractions, percentages, and increments. Division requires established skills in place value, multiplication, and subtraction. A practical application of division is to spread an odd number of fruit between an even number of people. Everyone can get the same amount of fruit; you need to calculate how many pieces to divide what you have. Problems arise when you write division problems in symbol form. Long division is a lengthy process and works from left to right, thus requiring agility to move across the brain. The overall movement is left to right, but when you are processing, the first step is left-right, the second and third are right to left. Place value and the ability to write the correct numeral in the right place are essential. Methods of teaching this vary, so if you are struggling to assist your child with this, then tuition by one of our experienced, friendly, and affordable tutors may help.
Fractions are an extension of division. To work with fractions, you must be able to visualize and represent whole numbers and parts of the whole. Whole numbers and multiples of whole numbers can be combined with parts of the whole in an improper fraction (5/4). Or they may be written as a mixed number (1¼). Both are correct, but usage depends on the rest of the problem. To arrive at the mixed number, you divide the numerator (top) by the denominator (bottom). Starting with simple fractions allows a student to visualize what is happening. Cutting up fruit is excellent for teaching or reinforcing this at home. To revert from the mixed number, you multiply the denominator by the whole number and then add the numerator to gain the new one. Again, we go back and forward in our thinking. At Fruition Tuition our maths tutors are experts at thinking backward and forwards.