Morgan P. answered • 08/27/19
Elementary and Middle School Math Teacher with Singapore Math Training
If your child cannot imagine what 2 thousands looks like and 12 hundreds looks like, he or she may not have had enough hands on practice building numbers and therefore, doesn't understand place value.
I suggest that you pull out Place value blocks, place value mat, and numeral cards 0-9 and build the number.
What does 2 thousands look like? Two large cubes. What is each cube made of? 10 groups of 100 flats (Place value blocks of 100) Can the child see 10 groups of 100 and count up to 1000 by 100s? If not, the child needs practice building two digit and 3 digit numbers first. Math is very cumulative.
What does 12 hundreds look like? Can your child look inside the 100 flat? Can he or she see 10 groups of 10 and count them by 10s? Can he or she see that 10 groups of 10 makes a unit of 100? Can we 100 more? That would be 1100. Can your child understand the place value with 4 digits, that he digit is a place holder for a value.
Most likely, the child is weak in place value and needs a few visual to pictorial to abstract numbers lessons to fill a foundational gap in place value.
If I can be of further help or you are interested in lessons to fill in gaps like place value that make a child "stuck" until he or she is given the right tools to "see" it and get the light bulb to go off.
Sincerely,
Morgan
