When is 1/2 + 1/2 = 1/4?
How about 1/2 + 2/3 = 3/3= 1
For so many students adding this way makes sense to them. 2 + 2 has always been 4, why change now?
Fractions make sense in the context of a kitchen. Find a recipe, hide all of the measuring cups except the 1/8 and the 1/3. See if your child can figure out fractions. In fact, find his FAVORITE recipe and he will learn fractions quickly!
My 3rd grade daughter picks up more conceptual understanding with one day in the kitchen with me than three weeks with the textbook.
Once she can see that 1/3 is not smaller than 1/4 even though 3 is smaller than 4, learning names like "numerator" and "denominator" isn't so difficult.
So, today, if your son or daughter is whining about math give them a real life math lesson-cook a meal using only 1/8 and 1/3 cups. Let them double their favorite recipe! Make the older ones split the recipe into two parts.
When are we ever going to use this stuff? Moms and dads in the kitchen use fractions every day!