Rounding to the nearest 10

[hsmom2011]

n/m

[lotsofpumpkins]

My 7yo ds gets that blank look sometimes too. It seems sometimes it's best to drop the topic for a while and try again later. Some dc take longer for those mathy parts of their brains to develop!

[hsmom2011]

n/m

[NittanyJen]

Next time you bring it up, if you haven't done so yet, use a number line... It is a very visual means of getting the concept.

[happypamama]

I don't think my 7yo has encountered that yet, but it threw my now 10yo DD for a bit of a loop. Once she understood fractions (which, oddly enough, have always been completely intuitive to her, when a lot of math concepts are not), that helped, because she could visualize 16 as "ten plus more than half of another ten." Also, relating anything to money helps her. "If you have 16 cents, are you closer to having one dime, or two dimes?" Eventually, it clicked.

[BakersDozen]

I laid out squares of paper on the floor with the #s 1-10 in a "hill" pattern (starting with "0" and sloping upward until "5" at the peak, then down to "10"). First I talked to my dd (4yo) about what "closer" and "farther" meant using simple questions; that got her giggling as I made the questions really silly ("Is Mommy's nose closer to my eyes or my feet?"). I then made sure she reviewed "more" and "less than" using M&Ms: "Do you have more yellow candies or green?"

 

Then I had her roll a die and go to that # (hopping, of course; somehow hopping like a frog makes everything funner). I asked her if she was closer to "0" or "10". At first I had her actually count her steps going both ways to determine which she was closer to. The # "5" was tricky so what I taught her was that since she got as far as five, just keep going rather than turn back; since "5" was at the peak it was easy for her to visualize it as the middle.

 

In the early grades I use a lot of full-body learning as it seems to make "mathy concepts" real. Once they understand the concept I have them practice rounding (or whatever else they are learning) every.single.day.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited October 10, 2012 by LuvnMySvn

[Amy Jo]

We used a number line as well.

[jenbrdsly]

Reader Rabbit 2nd grade math "the Mischeesilous Adventure" taught my son about rounding, super quick. Your library might have it. It's a CDrom.

[justLisa]

Here is what I do, I'll try to explain it.

 

Let's take the number 23. I say "what is the NEXT ten after 20?"

child: 30

"Ok and what digit is in the ones?"

child: 3

"So if the number is 5 or more, we bump it up to the next ten, if it is 4,3,2, or 1, we stay with the current ten.

Ok so do we stay at 20 or bump it up to the next ten, which you told me is 30?

 

The rounding up or down confused here because it made them think down as in the previous ten. This dialogue has worked with both of mine.

 

I also find sometimes it is better to practice a few problems each day, rather than do a ton all at once.

 

A number line works too as some have suggested. I do like to teach the rule though also.