Why place value is confusing for some children
Safety in Numbers: For Parents of Children with Maths DifficultiesShow Notes
A child may be able to tell you that the 7 in 762 is in the hundreds column and represents 700, yet still struggle to write a number they hear, compare larger numbers or use place value accurately in a calculation.
In this episode, Alice explains why knowing the names of the columns is not always the same as understanding what the digits are worth. Place value relies on more than remembering labels such as ones, tens, hundreds and thousands. It requires a secure sense of numerical magnitude: an intuitive understanding of how much bigger or smaller one quantity is than another. For children with dyscalculia or specific learning difficulties in maths, that felt sense of quantity may be less secure.
Alice explores why this can lead children to: write numbers incorrectly from spoken language rely on partially remembered rules become increasingly confused as numbers grow larger struggle when decimals are introduced follow carrying or borrowing procedures without understanding why they work remember a calculation method one day and lose it the next
The episode also explains why physical resources can be so valuable. Base ten blocks, squared paper, place value counters and simple playdough activities can help children see, feel and manipulate the relationships between ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tenths and hundredths.
Using practical equipment is not a step backwards. It gives children a route into understanding that abstract digits alone may not provide.
Free companion guide Download the free companion guide for this episode, with practical ideas and language to support place-value understanding at home: https://learn.aedds.co.uk/cgsu
Base ten blocks See an example of base ten blocks and how they represent place value: https://youtu.be/p6bvKB4jUf8
Place value counters See an example of place value counters and how they represent place value: https://youtu.be/y77eDV2ptQQ?si=4dVD97WrZLBnra5i
Place value chart See an example of a place value chart and how it helps to represent place value: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp6h0YJ2xdc
In the next episode, Alice looks at what parents can do when they are worried about their child’s maths.
Safety in Numbers is a podcast for parents of children with dyscalculia and maths difficulties.
Website: www.aedds.co.uk Facebook group: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551091072526
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