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How to Teach Long Division to Primary School Kids: 12 Worked Examples with Answers

Published: 04.09.2026·Updated: 15.10.2026

Nadia Rahmawati

Math Curriculum Team, Algonova

How to Teach Long Division to Primary School Kids: 12 Worked Examples with Answers

The easiest way to teach long division to primary school children is through four repeating steps: Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring down. Children in Years 3 to 6 usually stall not because the concept of division escapes them but because they forget the order of those four steps. Below is one example worked through in full, followed by 12 practice problems with complete answers.

Algonova is an online school for maths, coding, AI, and design for children aged 5-17, with more than 1,000,000 alumni across 97 countries since 2016. Maths classes run live with certified teachers in small groups of up to 10 students, and the first session is a free 45-minute diagnostic that shows exactly which step a child stumbles on.

Why long division confuses children

Long division is hard because it combines four operations at once, while every operation before it needed only one step.

When adding, a child performs a single action. In long division they must divide, then multiply, then subtract, then bring down the next digit, and repeat the whole cycle. If one step is skipped the answer is wrong, but the child often cannot tell which step went missing.

The second cause is simpler: multiplication is not yet automatic. A child still counting 6 x 4 on their fingers runs out of working memory before reaching the subtract step. If that is the problem, fix multiplication first through the 1-100 times tables and how to teach multiplication to children.

The third cause: the child does not know which digit to start from. That one is the quickest to fix, and the method is in the next section.

The four steps: Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring down

Every round of long division consists of the same four steps, and the order never changes.

Step	What the child does
1. Divide	Look at the first digit. If it is too small, take two digits together
2. Multiply	Multiply that quotient digit by the divisor
3. Subtract	Subtract the product from the number above it
4. Bring down	Bring down the next digit, then repeat from step 1

Have your child say the four words out loud while working. It sounds trivial, but naming the step is the fastest way to stop the habit of skipping the subtract stage.

An Indonesian teacher explaining calculation steps at a whiteboard to two primary school children

One example worked in full: 252 ÷ 6

6 long division problems with no remainder, with full answers

Start with problems that divide exactly. A child needs to feel the remainder land on zero before facing leftovers.

No	Problem	Answer	Quick check
1	84 ÷ 4	21	21 x 4 = 84
2	96 ÷ 3	32	32 x 3 = 96
3	75 ÷ 5	15	15 x 5 = 75
4	128 ÷ 4

6 long division problems with remainders, with full answers

Remainders make children panic because the answer is not "round". Show them that a remainder is normal and has its own check.

No	Problem	Answer	How to check
7	87 ÷ 4	21 remainder 3	21 x 4 = 84, then 84 + 3 = 87
8	95 ÷ 6	15 remainder 5	15 x 6 = 90, then 90 + 5 = 95
9	137 ÷ 5	27 remainder 2	27 x 5 = 135, then 135 + 2 = 137
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The three most common mistakes, and how to fix each

Almost every long division error falls into three patterns, and each needs a different fix.

First, skipping the subtract step. The child divides, multiplies, then jumps straight to bringing down the next digit. The fix is not re-explaining the theory but having them say the four words aloud until it becomes habit.

Second, misplacing the quotient digit. The answer digit lands in the wrong column, so 42 becomes 402. The fix is squared paper, one digit per square, rather than lined paper.

Third, a remainder larger than the divisor. This means the child stopped too early. The fix is one question: "can the remainder still be divided again?"

If those three are clean but your child is still slow, the bottleneck is usually multiplication speed rather than division. Effective study approaches are covered in 5 approaches to learning maths for children, and class options are at Online Maths Classes for Kids and Maths for Primary School.

For a child already fluent in division and ready for what comes next, the follow-on topics are

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Frequently Asked Questions About Long Division

How do I teach long division to a primary school child?

Teach four repeating steps in a fixed order: Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring down. Have your child say the four words aloud while working. That order is what usually goes missing, not the concept of division itself. A child who skips the subtract step gets a wrong answer without knowing where it went wrong. For example with 252 divided by 6: take 25 because 2 is too small, 25 divided by 6 gives 4, multiply 4 by 6 to get 24, subtract 25 minus 24 leaving 1, bring down the 2 to make 12, then 12 divided by 6 gives 2. The final answer is 42. After that, teach the reverse-multiplication check so the child can verify their own answer.

At what age do children start long division?

Generally in Years 3 and 4, around ages 8 to 10, once the child knows their times tables up to 10. The real prerequisite is not age but multiplication fluency. A child still counting 6 times 4 on their fingers runs out of working memory before reaching the subtract step, because their brain is busy with the multiplication. If a Year 4 child keeps stalling, step back to times tables for two or three weeks, then return to long division. It usually goes much faster. Forcing long division before multiplication is automatic slows progress rather than speeding it up.

Why does my child always make mistakes at the subtract step?

Because subtracting is the only step that produces no visible answer, which makes it the easiest one to skip. After dividing and multiplying, the child already feels they have an answer, so they rush to bring down the next digit. But without the subtraction, the digit brought down attaches to the wrong number. For example a child writes 95 divided by 6 equals 15 with nothing left over. Subtracting properly would show 90 and a remainder of 5. The fastest fix: have the child say the word "subtract" out loud every time they reach that step, for one week.

How do you check a long division answer?

For exact division, multiply the quotient by the divisor. The result must match the original number precisely. For example 441 divided by 7 gives 63. Check: 63 times 7 equals 441, so the answer is right. For division with a remainder, multiply the quotient by the divisor and add the remainder. For example 137 divided by 5 gives 27 remainder 2. Check: 27 times 5 equals 135, plus 2 makes 137. Teach this once and your child owns a verification tool for life, including during exams.

What does a remainder mean, and how large can it be?

A remainder is the part that is no longer enough to divide, and it is always smaller than the divisor. If a child writes 137 divided by 5 equals 26 remainder 7, that is certainly wrong, because 7 still contains another 5. It means they stopped too early. The easiest way to explain it uses real objects. Share 13 sweets among 5 children: each gets 2, and 3 sweets stay in your hand because 3 is not enough to give one more to all five. The quick rule is one sentence: if the remainder is equal to or larger than the divisor, the calculation is not finished.

What if the first digit is smaller than the divisor?

Take two digits together. This is the rule most often left unsaid, and it causes a great deal of confusion. In 252 divided by 6, the digit 2 cannot be divided by 6, so the child takes 25 and works with that. In 441 divided by 7, the 4 is not enough, so take 44. Many children stop here and conclude the problem cannot be solved, when all they need is to shift their view one digit to the right. Once two digits are taken, the four steps proceed exactly as normal with no changes.

Why is my child's answer often off by a zero?

Because the quotient digit is written in the wrong column, turning 42 into 402 or 420. This is purely a layout problem, not a comprehension one. A child working on lined paper has no column guide, so digits drift sideways easily. The fix is simple and quick: switch to squared paper, one digit per square. Many families report this type of error disappearing within days of changing exercise books. Each quotient digit must sit directly above the digit currently being worked on.

How much practice time is right for a child?

Around 15 to 20 minutes a day is far more effective than one hour once a week. Long division is a procedural skill, and procedural skills stick through short frequent repetition rather than long tiring sessions. A pattern that works for many families: four problems every weekday, checked by the child themselves using reverse multiplication, without a parent supervising every minute. After two weeks of this pattern, speed usually rises on its own and the child stops asking whether each answer is correct.

Should a child use a calculator while learning division?

Better not while learning the steps, but it is fine for checking an answer after the child has worked it out themselves. The goal of long division is not obtaining a number but training a child to execute a staged procedure while holding several pieces of information in mind. A calculator skips precisely the part being trained. As a checking tool, a calculator is useful because it gives immediate feedback without the child waiting for a parent. A practical rule at home: work it on paper, check with reverse multiplication, then use the calculator as the final referee.

My child understands at home but fails the test. Why?

Usually because at home they work calmly with no time limit, while a test adds time pressure. Under pressure, the first steps sacrificed are subtracting and checking. A child who is not yet automatic reverts to old habits as soon as time gets tight. A helpful drill is adding a light time limit at home, for instance four problems in ten minutes, so the conditions resemble a test. If the same error repeats in the same place, a diagnostic session with a teacher usually finds the cause faster than adding more practice problems.

How to Teach Long Division to Primary School Kids: 12 Worked Examples with Answers

Why long division confuses children

The four steps: Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring down

One example worked in full: 252 ÷ 6

6 long division problems with no remainder, with full answers

6 long division problems with remainders, with full answers

The three most common mistakes, and how to fix each

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The four steps: Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring down

One example worked in full: 252 ÷ 6

6 long division problems with no remainder, with full answers

6 long division problems with remainders, with full answers

The three most common mistakes, and how to fix each

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Frequently Asked Questions About Long Division