An important part of children’s understanding of fractions is whether a shape has been split into equal or unequal parts. “My half is smaller than your half!” cannot be true as halves have to be equal. In this case there are two parts, but they are not halves.

There are two important aspects of fractions which need to be carefully explained to children in Year 2. The first is to understand a fraction of a whole one. For example, a half of a bar of chocolate can be found by dividing the bar into two equal parts.

The second is to find a fraction of a quantity. To find a half of a number, children need to divide the number by 2. At first, this can be done physically, sharing objects into two groups and then counting the number in each group.

We have a great selection of resources covering these aspects of fractions and have just published 5 new sets. Take a look now.