Schools don't seem to put much emphasis anymore on having children learn how to do long division. My children just seem to rely on doing it with a calculator. How can I interest them in picking up this skill? -- For Division
Answer: It's true that not too much emphasis is being placed on long division. We have a game that your children might enjoy playing that would give them practice using long division.
Before starting the game, make three sets of cards numbered 0-9 and shuffle them. Then have every player draw a blank division problem with two squares for the devisor (dividing number) and four squares for the number to be divided. The game is played in this way:
--The first player turns over the top card.
--This player writes the number in one of the squares on his blank division problem.
--The rest of the players take turns drawing cards and writing the numbers on their blank division problems.
--When all the spaces are filled in, each player solves his or her division problem.
--Calculators can be used to check that the answers are correct. (Remind your children that remainders in division can be shown as decimals or fractions.)
--The winner is the player who has the highest quotient.
Children who truly understand division and have a strategy for filling in their division problems will usually be the winners.
Math (Division) in The Age of Calculators
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