How to Teach Your Child to Reduce Fractions

Students generally begin learning about fractions as a math concept in the fourth grade, according to the authors of ̶0;Teaching about Fractions: What, When and How̶1; published in the ̶0;National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 1989 Yearbook: New Directions for Elementary School Mathematics.̶1; As the fraction concepts expand, students eventually will learn how to reduce fractions to lowest terms to simplify them. Simplifying fractions makes it easier for students to conceptualize and understand fractions.

Instructions

    • 1

      Discuss factors with your child to ensure she understands this concept. A factor is a number multiplied by another number to find a product, according to the Math.com website. To find the factors of a number, the process involves listing every number or factor that multiplies by another number to equal the number.

    • 2

      Write a fraction that is not in its lowest terms to illustrate the reducing process. For example, you might write 18/27. Explain to your child that while this fraction looks large and challenging, it̵7;s possible to reduce a fraction to the smallest or lowest numbers, which makes it easier to understand.

    • 3

      Help your child list the factors for the numerator and denominator of the fraction. Using the same example, you and your child should list 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 18 for the numerator and 1, 3, 9 and 27 for the denominator.

    • 4

      Compare the factors to find the greatest common factor of both the numerator and denominator. Using the same example, the greatest common factor of both 18 and 27 is nine. You will use the number nine to reduce this fraction.

    • 5

      Demonstrate how to reduce the fraction using the greatest common factor of the numerator and denominator. Using the same example, 18 divided by nine equals two and 27 divided by nine equals three. Therefore, 18/27 reduces to 2/3.

    • 6

      Provide additional practice for your child to help him learn and solidify the lesson of reducing fractions. Once your child understands and learns the concept, make a new requirement that your child should always list fractions in lowest terms unless you instruct him otherwise.

    • 7

      Teach your child simple rules to determine whether a fraction is in lowest terms. If the numerator and denominator are even numbers, the fraction needs reducing, state educators Don Ploger and Michael Rooney in ̶0;Teaching Fractions: Rules and Reason.̶1; If the numerator and denominator are consecutive numbers, the fraction does not need reducing. If the denominator is a prime number and the numerator is smaller, the fraction does not need reducing.

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