A parents' guide to addition methods taught in Guernsey Classrooms

The methods that children use for addition may well baffle parents at first glance, and have you wondering what on earth their teachers and maths tutors are getting your children to do! The methods for teaching written methods to younger children in Guernsey primary schools have evolved over time as a result of advances in research in maths education and children's cognitive development. These methods aim to help children better understand the underlying concepts of addition, by learning a series of progressive steps, rather than going straight to the formal written method, which teachers and maths tutors in Guernsey will tell you is too abstract for young children to easily understand.

One of the key differences in the way written methods are taught today is a shift towards more visual and concrete representation. Children are taught to think of numbers as groups of objects, pictures or equipment such as Dienes (hundreds blocks, tens sticks, and ones mini cubes), so they can visualise, manipulate and rearrange numbers to solve problems.

Another vital concept is that of place value. Children must have a good understanding of the terms tens and ones, and how they are represented in a written number, as many of these methods rely on this concept. There may be some slight variation between Guernsey schools; if you are unsure, you could ask your child's school for a copy of their calculations policy. Different methods will resonate with different children, so our Guernsey maths tutors encourage children to use the method that works best for them.

Numberlines

Numberlines are a method of encouraging children to visualise the relationship between numbers and their position on a continuum. This supports understanding of number and place value. For more advanced use, it is important that your child has a good understanding of how to partition (split) a number into tens and ones – something our Guernsey maths tutors often help younger students with. By the time children are ready to work using 3 digit numbers, they usually have good enough conceptual understanding to move on to a more advanced step, though the familiarity of a numberline can still support some children.

Partitioning

Once children have established the visual of a numberline in their minds, and have a reasonable understanding of place value, they can move towards the partitioning method, firstly supported by equipment or drawings, and then alone.

Other methods of representing addition problems

Most Guernsey primary schools, as well as our Guernsey maths tutors, make good use of the Singapore bar model and part/part whole models as a way of representing arithmetic problems. These don't allow you to solve the problem directly, but give a strong visual representation of what it requires your child to do.

What does this all equal?

Once your child has mastered these progressive methods, they will then be ready to begin using the standard column method algorithm for addition, with a really good concrete and visual understanding. They will be ready to work with and solve problems in a more abstract way, using a method which can be adapted to bigger numbers, decimals and even negative numbers too.