Fractions, decimals and percentages in groep 6, 7 and 8 are where an Indian child's head start in maths turns into a surprising loss of marks. The child who did breuken in Class 4 in Chennai meets them again at 10 in Almere and gets them wrong, not because the fractions changed but because the Dutch school wants a different route to the answer, written in a different way, with a comma where the child expects a point. This post lays out what the Dutch school teaches in each groep and in which order, the three Dutch tools the teacher grades, where an Indian child is ahead and behind, the thirty words that unlock the questions, and how to hold both methods at once.
The Dutch order, groep by groep
| Groep | Fractions (breuken) | Decimals (kommagetallen) | Percentages and ratio (procenten, verhoudingen) | The CBSE child at the same age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Halves, quarters, thirds as parts of a shape or a group | Money in euros and cents only | Simple "one in four" language | Class 3: fractions of shapes, halves and quarters |
| 6 | Fractions on the number line, equivalent fractions, adding with the same denominator | Tenths and hundredths, reading and ordering | Ratio in recipes and maps with the ratio table | Class 4: adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators, decimals to hundredths |
| 7 | Different denominators, mixed numbers, fraction of a quantity | All four operations with decimals, rounding | Percentages of an amount, the 1% and 10% routes, discount | Class 5: all fraction operations, decimals in depth, percentages introduced |
| 8 | Multiplying and dividing fractions, fraction, decimal and percentage as one idea | Decimals in measurement and money problems | Percentage increase and decrease, reverse percentages, scale, speed | Class 6: ratio and proportion, percentage applications, decimals fluent |
The pattern is the same one we described in Dutch primary maths groep by groep: the Indian child is a year or more ahead in the operations and level or behind in the applications. Dutch schools spend far longer on "what a fraction means" and "what a percentage is" than on the sums, and they test the meaning through word problems in Dutch.
The three Dutch tools the teacher grades
The verhoudingstabel, the ratio table. Two rows, top and bottom, that grow together. A recipe for four people needs 300 g of rice; for ten people, the table goes 4 to 1 to 10, and 300 to 75 to 750. Percentages are done the same way: 100% to 10% to 1% to 23%. Dutch teachers expect the table for anything with proportion, and the doorstroomtoets marks the working. An Indian child does this by the unitary method in their head and writes the answer; the answer is right and the working is "missing".
The strook and the cirkel, the strip and the circle. Fractions are drawn as a bar divided into parts, and percentages as a bar of 100. A child who says three-quarters is 75% is asked to show it on the strip. This is a groep 6 and 7 habit that Indian children find babyish and that Dutch tests reward.
The getallenlijn, the number line. Fractions and decimals are placed on it and compared on it; "is 0,7 bigger than 3/4" is answered by placing both. Indian children convert and compare, which is fine in secondary school and is marked as no working in groep 7.
Alongside the tools there is the notation. The decimal comma, 2,5 for two and a half. The thousands point, 2.500 for two thousand five hundred. The fraction written on one line as 3/4 in typing and stacked in handwriting. And the answer sentence: a Dutch redactiesom expects the answer as a short sentence with the unit, "Sanne krijgt €2,55 terug", not a bare number.
Where the Indian child is ahead and behind
Ahead: every operation. Adding unlike denominators, converting mixed numbers, multiplying fractions, long multiplication of decimals, converting between fraction, decimal and percentage. A CBSE Class 5 child can do groep 8 sums cold.
Behind: everything that surrounds the sums. Estimating whether 0,68 is about two-thirds. Reading a Dutch problem about korting (discount) and knowing that "20% korting op €45" wants the new price, not the discount. Reverse percentages, "the sale price is €36 after 20% off, what was it", which Dutch schools teach in groep 8 with the table and Indian schools teach in Class 7 or 8 with algebra. Scale on a map, 1:50.000, which Indian primary schools barely touch. And the whole domain the Cito calls verhoudingen, ratio, which is a third of the rekenen score and is mostly reading.
The report the family sees at the end of this is a III or IV in rekenen for a child who can do the sums, and the explanation is in my child was ahead in India and is now average here.
The thirty words
Fractions: de breuk (fraction), de teller (numerator), de noemer (denominator), gelijknamig maken (make the denominators the same), vereenvoudigen (simplify), de helft, een kwart, driekwart, een derde, een tiende, het geheel (the whole), deel van (part of).
Decimals: het kommagetal (decimal), de komma, tienden, honderdsten, duizendsten (tenths, hundredths, thousandths), afronden (round off), op één decimaal (to one decimal place).
Percentages and ratio: het procent, procenten, de korting (discount), de prijs, de nieuwe prijs, de oude prijs, de verhouding (ratio), de verhoudingstabel, de schaal (scale), gemiddeld (average), de snelheid (speed), per uur (per hour), verdelen in de verhouding (share in the ratio).
Put them on the fridge next to the word-problem list from redactiesommen. Between the two lists a child can read almost any groep 7 rekenen page.
Holding both methods without confusing the child
Parents worry that two methods will muddle a child. Our experience across years of Dutch-school families is the opposite, provided the order is right.
- Dutch method first, for school. The ratio table, the strip, the number line, the comma, the answer sentence. The child learns it as "the way the teacher wants it shown", which is exactly what it is.
- Indian method second, as the shortcut. Once the table is automatic, show the child that 23% of 400 is 92 in one line and let them check it with the table. They now own both and know which to use where.
- Meaning before either. A child who can say why the ratio table works, because both rows grow by the same factor, is never confused by having two routes. A child taught both as recipes is.
Times tables went through the same double-method story two years earlier; how that works out is in times tables the Dutch way versus the Indian way.
What we do
Our groep 6 to 8 classes teach fractions, decimals and percentages in the Dutch order, in English, with the Dutch tools drawn every time and the Dutch words alongside, a term ahead of the school, and then add the Indian shortcuts on top so the child is fast as well as correct. From groep 7 we work the doorstroomtoets verhoudingen questions, which are the ones that decide a rekenen score for a child from India. Bring the last rekenen test to the free demo; if the wrong answers have the right numbers and the wrong layout, we can fix that in a term.
Questions parents ask
1When does a Dutch school teach fractions?
2What is a verhoudingstabel and why does the teacher insist on it?
3Why does my child write 2,5 instead of 2.5?
4Should we teach the Indian method or the Dutch one?
See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →
Shobha
Founder and lead tutor, Science with Shobha
Teaching maths, science and English to children online since 2018. 500+ students, 20+ tutors, families in nine countries.