Long division using a game based method

Conquer Long Division: A Game-based Approach

Long division. 

Just the words might bring back a few less-than-thrilling memories for some of us!

But don't worry, teaching long division to your kids doesn't have to be a daunting task. 

By breaking it down into manageable steps and making it visual, you can help your child confidently conquer this essential math skill. This guide is designed for parents of kids around the 3rd-6th grade level, but can be adapted as needed.

Before You Start: Building the Foundation

Make sure your child has a solid understanding of these foundational skills before tackling long division:

• Basic Multiplication Facts: Knowing multiplication tables fluently is crucial.

• Basic Subtraction: They should be comfortable with multi-digit subtraction.

• Understanding Place Value: Recognizing the value of each digit in a number (ones, tens, hundreds, etc.).

The conventional long-division steps

Does McDonald's Serve Cheese Burgers?

This stands for:

1. Divide

2. Multiply

3. Subtract

4. Check (sometimes combined with divide in the next step)

5. Bring Down

Let's walk through an example together: 456 ÷ 12

Step 1: Divide

• Look at the first digit (or first few digits) of the dividend (456) and see if the divisor (12) can go into it.

• Can 12 go into 4? No, because 4 is smaller than 12.

• So, look at the first two digits: 45. How many times does 12 go into 45?

• Think: 12 x 1 = 12, 12 x 2 = 24, 12 x 3 = 36, 12 x 4 = 48 (too big).

• So, 12 goes into 45 3 times. Write the 3 above the 5 in the quotient

Step 2: Multiply

• Multiply the quotient digit you just wrote (3) by the divisor (12).

• 3 x 12 = 36.

• Write the 36 directly below the 45.

Step 3: Subtract

• Subtract the product (36) from the part of the dividend you used (45).

• 45 - 36 = 9.

• Write the 9 below the 36.

Step 4: Bring Down

• Bring down the next digit of the dividend (the 6) and write it next to the remainder (9).

• Now you have 96

Step 5: Repeat (Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring Down)

• Divide: How many times does 12 go into 96? (Think: 12 x 5 = 60, 12 x 8 = 96). It goes in 8 times. Write the 8 next to the 3 in the quotient.

• Multiply: 8 x 12 = 96. Write 96 below the other 96.

• Subtract: 96 - 96 = 0. Write 0 below.

• Bring Down: There are no more digits to bring down. Therefore, 456 ÷ 12 = 38. 

The Game-based approach

There are multiple levels of this division game and at each level kids learn a new skill that help them develop the ability to perform long divisions in their head. The games help with practicing different variations of the process.

Game 1- Dividing 3 digit number by a single digit number

The chart contains 6 equations of the form XXY/X = Z where X is already shown on the page and Y, Z and V are to be calculated by the child.  An example is 37Y/6 = ZV.

The trick to play this game is to first calculate the multiple of 6 that is just short of 37. If the child knows the table of 6, they can tell that 36 is the closest multiple of 6. 

So they will multiply 6 by 6 and write down the answer and add a zero in the end. 6x6= 36. Adding a zero makes it 360.

Now, what should we add to 360, which is a multiple of 6, to make the sum more than 370 but less than 380?. This is the trickiest part of the question and will require a bit of practice. In this case it can be 12 or 18. So Y can be 2 or 8 and V can be 2 or 3.