Decimals & Percents

Decimals are one of the biggest conceptual shifts in fourth grade math. Up to this point, students have been working almost entirely with whole numbers and the occasional fraction. Now they have to accept that the digits after a decimal point follow the same place value pattern they already know — just running in the opposite direction. This nine-week program walks them through that transition step by step, anchored to the Common Core standards in 4.NF.C.5, 4.NF.C.6, and 4.NF.C.7.

The program opens with tenths. Week 1 uses number lines and shaded bars to show that 0.3 means three out of ten equal parts, and that it can also be written as 3/10. Week 2 extends the same idea to hundredths, where pennies and dollars give students a context they already understand. Week 3 is the bridge: tenths and hundredths are different ways of writing the same kinds of numbers, and 3/10 equals 30/100. That equivalence is the hinge the rest of the program turns on, because it’s how students will eventually add fractions with denominators of 10 and 100.

Week 4 pushes past one. Students start writing mixed numbers like 2 47/100 as 2.47, reading place value charts that include ones, tenths, and hundredths, and converting fluently in both directions. Weeks 5 and 6 focus on comparison and order — using number lines and grids to show why 0.4 and 0.40 are the same number, and why 0.7 is greater than 0.65 even though 65 is bigger than 7. Week 6 adds rounding to the nearest tenth and number line estimation.

Week 7 turns to addition. Students add fractions like 3/10 + 24/100 by converting to a common denominator of 100, then translate the same work into decimal form: 0.3 + 0.24. The two methods produce the same answer, and seeing them side by side is what makes the fraction-decimal connection finally click. Week 8 puts everything to work in money and measurement word problems — grocery receipts, allowance, meters and centimeters, liters and tenths of a liter. Week 9 is a cumulative capstone that doubles as either a portfolio assessment or a review before a state test.

Each week includes five worksheets with full answer keys. Every worksheet leads with a short concept passage and at least one worked example before the practice problems begin, so students see the reasoning behind a procedure before they try it themselves. The pacing assumes roughly three to four hours of math work per week, which suits a typical homeschool schedule or supplemental afterschool practice for kids who need more reps on decimal work than the school day provides. All worksheets are print-ready PDFs, formatted for standard letter paper.