Skill with fractions is one of the key indicators of future success in mathematics for children. Being competent at calculating with and manipulating them is essential to succeeding in any field of science or mathematics including accountancy, medicine, chemistry, engineering and so on.
Working out solutions for any scientific formula, for example, requires skill with fractions. Ratios are also fractions and are used for many things including conversion from one unit type to another.
Yet many people are never comfortable working with fractions. Ask a random group of adults what part of math they had the most trouble with and many of them will answer "fractions". Almost all the rest will answer "algebra".
So what is the best approach to teaching fractions to children, to make them easier to grasp? Having taught fractions to junior high school children for over ten years I have tried many methods. The most successful method I have found so far is to treat them simply as numbers from the very first lesson.
Fractions are often shown as cakes, pizzas, biscuits, groups of ducklings; in fact they are presented as anything but numbers. The skill a of identifying part of a whole or group that a student learns with picture fractions does not carry over well to more advanced ideas like adding, subtracting, dividing and the like.
If we treat fractions as numbers we can place them on the number line. Here their actual value relative to other numbers can be seen without confusion. This makes converting between mixed numbers and improper fractions a very simple task. Also, it makes clear that fractions like one third have a value of between zero and one.
When fractions are treated as numbers they are easier to teach and easier to learn. Two and three fifths may be a mystery to a child, but when that is translated into "two and a bit" the fraction suddenly becomes easier to locate and work with. By demystifying fractions they become less threatening which in turn also improves learning of the topic.
For free video tutorials, printable worksheets and more visit the fractions section of my website, www.green-planet-solar-energy.com.
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