Dear parents: At stage 7 children are working with decimal numbers and it is important that they know what decimal numbers are. The strategy that follows is subtraction partitioning for decimals. If your child wants to have a go at this level then by all means let them but to be working at a stage 7 it is the understanding of what a decimal is combined with the ability to use this strategy that places them at that stage. Subtraction Partitioning with Numbers Containing Decimal Places Stage 7 Strategy

Write down the problem and partition the second number as you would normally with this strategy 6.03 – 5.80 (5, 0.80) Don’t change the first number. Write down the partitioned whole number (5) – 5 = 1.03 Take the partitioned decimal (0.80)away from the answer above to get the final result 1.03 – 0.80 = 0.23

Write down the problem and partition the second number as you would normally with this strategy 9.23 – 7.81 (7, 0.81) Don’t change the first number. Write down the partitioned whole number (7) – 7 = 2.23 Take the partitioned decimal (0.81)away from the answer above to get the final result 2.23 – 0.81 = 1.42