Year 1

We can halve and double numbers.
We can solve a problem or puzzle using adding/subtracting.

Year 1 Unit 7

What we are learning:

• Doubling and halving are important skills as they enable children to work out more complex problems quickly at a later stage.
• Remember that doubling and halving are tricky for year 1 children, particularly halving.
• The key concept is, of course, that when we double a number, we are adding on another group of the same size as the one we started with.
• When we halve an amount we make two equal sets and the ‘half’ is the size of each set.
• Use practical equipment so your child can ‘see’ the numbers.
• As children get used to the concepts they can visualize doubling and halving without having to use equipment. They will start to learn some doubles and halves as they have lots of different experiences in playing with different objects.
• It is important to know that doubling is the inverse of halving, (undoes it), e.g. if I double 6 I get 12, therefore if I halve 12, I will get 6. It is important that children experience this through the use of practical equipment so that they ‘see’ and experience this connection.
• Problem solving using money, recognizing coins, exchanging coins, paying for things in shops, are all very important skills for your child. If you give your child pocket money of say 50p – instead of giving them a 50p coin put out lots of change (the change in your pocket/purse) and together count out 50p. This will mean that each time they will be making the 50p in different ways depending on what coins you have in your pocket/purse and if you don’t have enough you can talk about how much more you need, what extra coins you need.

ACTIVITY 1: PLAYING DOUBLES WITH DOMINOES

ACTIVITY 2: PROBLEM SOLVING OUT AND ABOUT

Activities you can do at home:

Find all the doubles in a set of dominoes. Why are they called ‘doubles’?
Draw a new double domino – double 7, double 9, double 12. Find the totals of the ‘double’ dominoes.
Hide one half of a double domino and ask.
How many dots will be on the other half of the domino?
How many spots are there altogether?
How many spots will you be able to see if I cover up half of the domino?
Also encourage your child to recognize the pattern of the dots so that they no longer need to count them each time.

Play the Halving game
You need: a spinner with even numbers on or a blank spinner (so you can put your own numbers on it)
How to play:
Spin it (spin a number) –
Build it (find this number of objects)
Find Half of it (Find half the number of objects by putting them into two equal groups)

Number problems can be introduced into lots of everyday activities, especially when shopping,
Counting items into bags – i.e. apples, potatoes, onions.
How many apples are in the trolley?
How many will there be if I add 3 more apples?

Good questions to ask:

If I buy a bar of chocolate for 10p and another for 13p, how much have I spent?
If I buy two toys for 5p each how much have I spent?
If I want to give you 20 grapes, but there are only 17 in the fruit bowl, how many grapes are we short?

If your child:

Works out doubles or halves each time they come across them
Let them do this – in time they will learn some of them through practice
Can’t link doubling and halving as inverses of each other, i.e. has to work out the half of 6 even though they have just doubled 3 to get to 6
Give them practice at doubling then halving and ask them if they can see the patterns that occur