Now that your child clearly understands the relationships between the types of fractions, they are ready to start adding and subtracting fractions. As always, start with lots of pictures and hands on activities to show how adding and subtracting fractions works. When your
Now that your child clearly understands the relationships between the types of fractions, they are ready to start adding and subtracting fractions. As always, start with lots of pictures and hands on activities to show how adding and subtracting fractions works. When your child is ready to move past the pictures, here are some easy ways to teach these concepts.
Working with Like Fractions
Like fractions are two fractions that are split into the same number of equal pieces. In other words they have the same denominator. ( Like 3⁄5 and 1⁄5) These fractions are simple to add and subtract because they already have the same denominator. You only have to add or subtract the numerators. The denominator stays the same throughout the entire problem. For 3⁄5 + 1⁄5, simply add 3 + 1 = 4. You answer will then be 4⁄5. To subtract 3⁄5 – 1⁄5, just subtract 3 – 1 = 2. Your answer is 2⁄5.
Working with Unlike Fractions
Unfortunately, not all fractions are going to have the same denominators. Fractions with different denominators cannot be easily added and subtracted. Therefore, the first step in working with unlike fractions is to get a common denominator. You find a commo