It finally happened, the day I've been dreading since the birth of our first child

Col_Decker · November 2014

Sweet little 7 year old Abi, the light of my life came home from school with week with her homework...

Long division

jesus wept I've not done that since I was 7. I showed her how to do it using an easier method ... to which she sat arms folded with a cross face. "that's the 'garage' method, I need to do the long method". It turns out there's loads of ways of doing it now: chunking, long, garage, partitioning ... more genres that nu metal. Thank God for Google.

Bring back these, that's what I say ...

holnrew · November 2014

Between primary school and big school, I forgot how to do it. Still have no clue.

chillidoggy · November 2014

Col_Decker said:

Is that some kind of hurdy-gurdy, folky thing?

DesVegas · November 2014

Carry the 2, ALWAYS carry the 2.

dafuzz · November 2014

I'm not sure I was ever taught long division, hence I still can't do it

Col_Decker · November 2014

chillidoggy said:

Col_Decker said:

Is that some kind of hurdy-gurdy, folky thing?

That young whipper snapper is a mechanical calculator. They we all the rage for us late '70s early '80s maths wizzes. Pre Mr. Sinclare natch

equalsql · November 2014

The worst part of it is that they no longer teach them traditional long division so you have to learn a different and IMHO inferior system.
You're gonna love that

Phil_aka_Pip · November 2014

Trad. long division works. teach her that and sod what the educational experts say.

not_the_dj · November 2014

My eldest lad is in year 1. WTF is a split vowel digraph??!!

Col_Decker · November 2014

equalsql said:

The worst part of it is that they no longer teach them traditional long division so you have to learn a different and IMHO inferior system.
You're gonna love that

^ this

The method she is using is, for example, if you're dividing 296 by 7, first you work out the multiples of

1 x 7

2 x 7

5 x 7

10 x 7

20 x 70 then subtract it from the 296 in stages and add up the factors you used (ie 1 x, 5x, 20 x).

FFS

stickyfiddle · November 2014

I have a flipping maths degree and I say long division is pointless and unnecessary and it saddens me that they still teach it.

JAYJO · November 2014

not_the_dj said:

My eldest lad is in year 1. WTF is a split vowel digraph??!!

Ah! The old teachers code! Quite simply Translated it means This lads dad is a tosser! .

Col_Decker · November 2014

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Trad. long division works. teach her that and sod what the educational experts say.

Exactly!!! But apparently now they learn different 'strategies' so that they can choose their favourite. It kind of makes sense I suppose but its a lot more work in the mean time. And to be honest won't everyone just use the easiest method? Big shout out to the Garage Dividers whoop whooop

guitarfishbay · November 2014

Haha, they should use this situation as a contraceptive advert.

'Are you sure you want to teach long division to a child?'

'Durex, for those moments when you want to avoid maths homework'.

stickyfiddle · November 2014

Which one is garage? Isn't that just shit british faux-hip-hop division?

WezV · November 2014

Most schools now teach multiple methods because it allows the child to understand the maths rather than just follow the process. As a minimum it lets them select the method that works best for them. It isn't the same for everyone. I now tend to use 2 methods to check my answer on longer sums.

Its a different focus to just teaching you a method which you forget as soon as you leave the classroom. A lot of the old school ways are all about remembering an easy method rather than the functions behind it. if you trust your method it can make it hard to spot mistakes

Chunking is a bit long winded, but its great for emphasising the links between multiplication and division

Phil_aka_Pip · November 2014

stickyfiddle said:

I have a flipping maths degree and I say long division is pointless and unnecessary and it saddens me that they still teach it.

Isn't that a bit like saying we don't need to teach boolean algebra because everybody works at FPGA or VLSI level? or that gear-shifting & clutch control is unnecessary because of automatic gearbxoes?

ToneControl · November 2014

Phil_aka_Pip said:

stickyfiddle said:

I have a flipping maths degree and I say long division is pointless and unnecessary and it saddens me that they still teach it.

Isn't that a bit like saying we don't need to teach boolean algebra because everybody works at FPGA or VLSI level? or that gear-shifting & clutch control is unnecessary because of automatic gearbxoes?

yes and yes

Phil_aka_Pip · November 2014

but both are untrue

ToneControl · November 2014

I have a maths degree, and find it hard to know how to help my kids without confusing them.
There are new methods now, some of which look unhelpful to me, but I'm not your typical student
Often the kids have been set homework including topics they have not yet covered in class (so they tell me), and I cna end up tellinhg them stuff from too advanced a perspective

Ibought this book, but probably need to read it:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/More-Maths-Mums-Dads-Askew/dp/0224095315/ref=pd_cp_b_2

for younger kids there's this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Maths-Mums-Dads-Mike-Askew/dp/0224086359/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

I'd have thought that long division and using log tables are not really much use now. Maths should all be about understanding the way numbers work, rather than learning how to do error-prone manual calculations that have no use in real life

Phil_aka_Pip · November 2014

But learning how to manipulate them is part of appreciating how they work. Otherwise it's like giving people pictures of scale patterns on a guitar without letting them play them on a real instrument.

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It finally happened, the day I've been dreading since the birth of our first child

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