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How to Teach Fractions: All You Need to Know

Learning fractions can be hard for many children because it goes beyond basic simple arithmetic calculations. To understand the concept, kids need to practice with examples every day before mastering fractions. This article provides tips on how to learn fractions in a fun and engaging way.

What is a Fraction?

A fraction is a number that indicates a part of a whole. One can write a fraction using two numbers separated by a line instead of a division symbol.

The number above the line is a numerator representing a section of the number of parts. Similarly, the number below the line is a denominator and represents the total number of parts in the whole area or object.

A simple fraction shows one part that has been partitioned into equal parts. A proper fraction is the one where a numerator is strictly less than a denominator. An improper fraction has a numerator greater than or equal to its denominator.

When teaching fractions, you can show kids that 2/5 means 2 is divided by 5. Each piece that we divide the whole into is called a part, and each part has an equal value. The number on top tells us how many parts we have.

How to Teach Fractions to a Child?

At what grade do you learn fractions? Kids meet fractions as early as in their first grade. At this stage, you can draw circles or squares with different colors and then divide those shapes into parts. Such pictures will be among the fun ways to teach fractions.

While learning fractions for beginners, you can use colors. For example, you can divide a circle into two equal parts, paint one part blue, and use red for the other part of the circle.

Such an approach will help kids understand that half of the circle is blue and the other half is red, letting children understand fractions without using any numbers or symbols.

Once children master this concept, you can introduce multiplication. For example, start with simple examples like 1/2 × 1/3 = 1/6 if you are unsure how to teach multiplying fractions.

The Nominator

A nominator is a number that indicates how many parts of a whole you have. In other words, a nominator is simply a number representing the fraction’s value. A nominator is the first part of a fraction. The other part is called a denominator, which is the bottom number in a fraction.

The purpose of a nominator in fractions is to tell you how many parts you have or what number to count up to. The following is an example of how to teach simplifying fractions:

2/3 means 2 out of 3 parts. So, if you cut a cake into three equal slices, you would eat two of them. In the same vein, 1/2 means 1 out of 2 parts. If you cut that same cake into 2 slices, you would eat one slice and leave one for someone else to eat.

Another example is the following: if you have a pizza and slice it into eight pieces, each piece would be one-eighth of the pizza. You could also say that each piece is “one over eight” or “one-eight” of the whole pizza.

The Numerator

When explaining fractions for kids, you must teach them different parts like the numerator and the denominator. In a common fraction, there is always one number up and one below; the one above is the numerator. Another way to describe the numerator is the number that shows how many parts you should take from the whole number. 

For example, 6/7, 6 is the numerator, while 8, under the line, is called the denominator. 

A numerator tells us how many equal parts are taken or considered in a fraction. For instance, if we have 7/10 in a fraction, it means we removed seven equal parts from ten equal parts.

Fraction Notation

In fraction lesson for kids, you must teach them how to write simple fractions, ratios and other numbers. In representing a fraction, you have two numbers separated by a line, with one number above and the other below. So when they ask what fractional notation is, it is simply a way to show ratios with division signs and slashes.

Fractions in Everyday Life

We apply fractions in our day-to-day lives in many cases. If you are wondering how to explain fractions to kids, you should look at what you do every day. Kids encounter fractions in math classes and have to deal with fractions when measuring things like time or distance. When measuring distance, you need fractions when talking about a mile or a kilometer. 

When you take your kid to a gas station, show them the pumps; they measure gasoline by fractions of gallons. They divide the gallons into halves and quarters; this makes it easier to fill up the tanks because all tanks don’t hold the same amount of gas. These tactics can help your child learn fractions in 7 minutes or less.

Fractions help people know how much fuel their tanks can hold. Real-life examples are the best way to teach fractions, and you can also show the kids pictures of fractions in everyday life. 

Even when cooking, you need fractions to measure ingredients so that your food comes out nice, just as you want it. The wrong measurement of sugar or salt can ruin a pancake mix and other kinds of foods. You need to use half or double the ingredients sometimes, and not understanding fractions can make you make mistakes. So, you can start teaching fractions by engaging your kids in cooking exercises.  

Fractions also apply when measuring liquids, checking the time needed for your exams to end, and using measuring tapes. There are so many applications of fractions in the world that make it easy when you are trying to figure out how to teach a child fraction.

Conclusion

Children don’t have to despise the process of learning fractions; we could make it easier for them by teaching fractions to children using worksheets and other tips to make it fun and simple. A good math tutor learns how to teach fractions by using simple methods that kids will understand, like examples, games, and fun videos for kids.

Kids will do better at fractions if they love it, so you have to teach them fractions in a way that they will love it.