The note
How schools teach it now
Schools use place-value charts (millions down to thousandths) and say the digits move left or right when you multiply or divide by 10, 100 or 1,000. Avoid 'just add a zero': it breaks with decimals (2.5 × 10 is 25, not 2.50).
5-minute kitchen-table activity
Copy a big number from a receipt, a house price or a football crowd, e.g. 4,036,250. Your child reads it aloud, says what the 3 is worth, then makes it 10 times bigger and 100 times smaller.
Worked example
What is the value of the 7 in 3,472,915?
- Name the columns from the right: ones (5), tens (1), hundreds (9), thousands (2), ten thousands (7).
- So the 7 is in the ten thousands column.
Answer: 70,000
Common mistakes to watch for
- Skipping zeros when reading big numbers: the zeros hold the places.
- Thinking 0.45 is bigger than 0.5 because 45 is bigger than 5.
- 'Adding a zero' to multiply a decimal by 10.
Encouragement
- Try saying
- “Let's put it in the columns and see where each digit lives.”
- Rather than
- “It's obvious, just look at it.”