What is place value?

You will have learned place value, perhaps without realising. You use it every time you read a number.

A number is written using digits. In 236, the digits are 2, 3 and 6. The place or position of each digit in the number gives it its value.

In 236 the place value of the ‘2’ is 2 hundreds

In 623 the place value of the ‘2’ is 2 tens

In 632 the place value of the ‘2’ is 2 ones

You may have learned about ‘hundreds, tens and units’ when you were at school. Now teachers often use ‘ones’ instead of units, because ‘unit’ can have other meanings, for example a unit of measurement.

How do children learn place value?

In key stage 1 children begin to read and write two-digit numbers and recognise the place value of each digit.

They represent two-digit numbers with tens and ones blocks:

and in place value tables:

Tens	Ones
5	3

and begin to partition numbers into tens and ones:

In key stage 2 they work with larger numbers, starting with hundreds:

Hundreds	Tens	Ones
1	2	4

and thousands:

Thousands	Hundreds	Tens	Ones
1	2	4	4

and then up to millions:

Millions	Hundred Thousands	Ten Thousands	Thousands	Hundreds	Tens	Ones
4	5	7	2	1	0	8

‘four million, five hundred and seventy-two thousand, one hundred and eight’

Decimal place value

In key stage 2 children also begin to recognise and use place value of decimals , up to three decimal places.

Ones	.	tenths	hundredths	thousandths
3	.	1	0	7

‘three point one zero seven’

An understanding of place value helps your child answer questions like this:

Write the number shown on this abacus

Write 208 in words

Write 5.26 in words

Write three hundred and twenty-one in digits

Which is larger: 3027 or 3152?

Both numbers have 3 thousands. Look at the next place value place.

3027 has 0 hundreds

3152 has 1 hundred

So 3152 is larger than 3027

Make the largest possible number with these digits

Put the largest digit in the highest place value: 7521

Make the smallest possible number with these digits

Put the smallest digit in the highest place value: 1257

What is the value of the 7 in this number: 3720?

7 hundred

Work out the number that is one hundred more than 3419

Work out the number that is 1000 less than 76210

Practice at home

Read numbers you see around you with your child – for example house numbers in your street, car number plates, newspaper headlines, advertisements.

Compare numbers in real life contexts – for example which is less: £27 or £35?

Which is the largest football crowd: 5300 or 10200?

Practice spellings of numbers 1-20, the ‘tens’ 30, 40, 50, … and hundred, thousand, etc

 

To practice place value with your child, Collins Maths Targeted Practice Workbooks are a great tool that target every topic covered in each school year. They include plenty of repeated practice to help your child do their best in Maths.

 

This article has been written by Katherine Pate.