How to teach place value (so it finally clicks)

Place value is the idea that where a digit sits decides what it's worth , the 3 in 30 means three tens, not three. It's the foundation of regrouping, big numbers and decimals, and it pays to teach it slowly with things children can hold.

Build it with materials first

Use bundles of ten straws, base-ten blocks or coins so 'ten ones make one ten' is something a child physically does, not just hears. Group ten, swap for a ten, and write the number alongside.

Name the columns

Introduce ones, tens, hundreds as columns on a place-value chart. Show that 247 is 2 hundreds, 4 tens and 7 ones, and have children build numbers you call out and read back numbers you build.

Common mistakes

Reading 207 as 'twenty-seven' (ignoring the zero placeholder).
Thinking the bigger digit is always worth more, regardless of column.
Lining numbers up by the left instead of the ones column when adding.

How to teach place value (so it finally clicks)

Build it with materials first

Name the columns

Common mistakes

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