Decimals for kids in Sengkang can start with one paper whole divided into ten equal parts. A single part is one tenth, written 0.1. The picture gives the decimal point something concrete to organise.
This guide offers family maths activities about tenths, hundredths and comparison. It keeps the whole the same so a child can see why 0.3 and 0.30 represent equal amounts.
Use squared paper or simple drawings at home. The examples are teaching models, not measurements of local facilities or claims about the reading level of any particular school year.
EDUKATE SENGKANG · FAMILY LEARNING
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Draw a rectangle divided into ten equal parts. Shade three and label the amount 3/10 or 0.3. The first place to the right of the decimal point counts tenths.
Ask what the whole represents in this drawing. Three shaded pieces do not automatically mean three tenths if the whole has been divided into a different number of equal parts.
Use a same-sized whole drawn as a ten-by-ten grid of one hundred equal squares. Shade thirty squares in three complete columns of ten. The shaded amount is 30/100, written 0.30.
That amount matches three tenths, so 0.3 = 0.30. Adding a zero at the end of this decimal does not create extra shaded area. Compare the matching wholes to explain why.
In 0.25, the 2 represents two tenths and the 5 represents five hundredths. Together they make twenty-five hundredths. Write 0.25 = 0.2 + 0.05 beside the grid.
Compare 0.05 with 0.5: five hundredths is smaller than five tenths. A zero in the tenths place matters; it is not a decorative character that can simply be omitted.
To compare 0.3 and 0.25, rewrite 0.3 as 0.30. Thirty hundredths is greater than twenty-five hundredths, so 0.3 is greater than 0.25.
The number of written decimal digits does not determine size. Ask the child to show both amounts on matching hundred-squares or a suitable number line before explaining the comparison.
Imagine two practice prices: $1.20 and $1.05. The first is $1 and 20 cents; the second is $1 and 5 cents. Their difference is 15 cents, or $0.15.
These are invented prices, not Sengkang shop listings. Keep dollars and cents correctly related: a child should not read $1.05 as one dollar and fifty cents.
Offer 0.4 and 0.35. Four tenths equals forty hundredths, so 0.4 is larger. Invite a drawing, a place-value explanation and a final comparison sentence.
North Vista Primary School highlights understanding and reasoning in mathematics. These independent suggestions share that broad emphasis. For revisiting equal parts and matching wholes, continue with our Sengkang fraction activities.
Sources and further reading
North Vista Primary School: Mathematics
Reviewed 17 October 2026. This is an independent eduKateSengkang family-learning guide. The activities are editorial suggestions, rather than official school or agency programmes. Check linked sources for current information.
