How to Understand Math

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Use objects to count out the math visually.

   Take a bag of marbles and use these to visually see how addition works.
   
   For example, take five marbles out of the bag.
   
   Now take another three marbles out of the bag.
   
   Combine all the marbles together and count how many you have.
   
   You’ll have eight marbles.
   
   That means that five plus three equals eight.
   
   Using this tactic can help you visual subtraction too.
   
   Try taking four marbles away from your pile of eight marbles.
   
   You’ll end up with four marbles left.
   
   That means that eight minus four equals four.
2. 2

   Step 2: Practice your addition and subtraction tables.

   You can buy workbooks online or visit free websites that allow you to practice.
   
   You’ll be presented with a table filled with all sorts of problems to solve – everything from one plus one to seventeen plus fifteen and so on. , If you are adding numbers that have multiple digits you can set them up on top of each other to make it easier to add.
   
   Consider the problem 21 plus
   14.
   
   Draw the equation so that the 21 is sitting on top of the
   14.
   
   Now draw a line underneath the
   14.
   
   Adding down, add the final two numbers.
   
   In this case, those numbers would be the ‘1’ from 21 and the ‘4’ from
   14.
   
   One plus four equals five, so you would write a five below the line you made under those two numbers.
   
   Now add the ‘2’ from 21 and the ‘1’ from
   14.
   
   Two plus one equals three.
   
   Write the three under those two numbers to the left of the five that you just wrote.
   
   You should have the numbers 3 and 5 sittings next to each other below the line you drew.
   
   That means the answer to this problem is
   35. 14 + 21 =
   35.
   
   If you add two numbers together and they make another two digit number, take the one from that two digit number and move it over to the left.
   
   For example, if the problem was 14 + 28 instead your first calculation would be 8 +
   4.
   
   This would give you
   12.
   
   You would still put the ‘2’ from 12 below the line underneath the 4 and the
   8.
   
   However, the ‘1’ from 12 would then be moved over to the left and added to the second equation.
   
   So you would add the ‘1’ from 14, the ‘2’ from 28 and the ‘1’ from
   12.
   
   That would give you the number 4 once you add all those numbers together.
   
   This means that 14 + 28 must equal
   42. , Pass the pigs is a popular game that has you roll tiny ceramic pigs on a table.
   
   Based on the way that they land, you earn a certain amount of points.
   
   You only play to 100 so the numbers never get too high, but it’s a great way to learn basic addition.
   
   It’s much better than doing addition tables for hours!
3. 3

   Step 3: Start by adding the final digits of both numbers together.

4. 4

   Step 4: Play games with simple math.

Detailed Guide

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