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When learners are first learning arithmetic operations, it may be helpful to use manipulatives to help them grasp the concepts, or meanings, of each operation. You can use groups of any objects to demonstrate the processes. Discuss with the learner that you can find the answer to any of the problems by combining groups of items, and then counting the items, but learning each of the operations makes it possible to combine large numbers that are not easy to count. That is why it is necessary to learn to do the arithmetic operations, and not to rely on using manipulatives to count.
Addition
To do simple addition, you put groups of items together. For example, if you have 3 blocks in one group, and 2 blocks in another group, how many blocks do you have altogether? You could find out the sum by putting the groups together and counting the items. You can find the answer by adding 3 + 2. Learners can see that addition makes it easier to combine numbers than counting by ones, especially if you were trying to add large numbers of objects.
Subtraction
To do simple subtraction, you remove items from a group. For example, if you have 10 cans in one group, and you take away 4 cans, how many cans are left? You could find out the difference between the original number and the number of items left by counting, or you can find the answer by subtracting 10 - 4. Subtraction makes it possible to find the answer without counting by ones.
Multiplication
To do simple multiplication, you make several groups that have the same number of items in each group. For example, if you have 5 cookies in a group, and you make a total of 3 groups that all have 5 cookies each, how many cookies do you have altogether? You could find out the total by counting, or you can find the answer by multiplying 5 * 3. Multiplication makes it possible to find the answer without counting by ones.
Division
To do simple division, you can use a group of items and decide to separate the items into several sets. For example, if you have 8 apples in a group, and you want to give an equal number of apples to 4 different people, how many apples will you give to each person? You could find out the total by giving one apple to each person at a time until you run out of apples, and then counting how many apples each person has, or you can find the answer by dividing 8 by 4. Division makes it possible to find the answer, without counting by ones.
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