Teaching Kids About Roman Numerals

A guide to the rules of Roman Numerals.

• Pencil
• Paper

Directions

1. Explain to your child that the number symbols we use every day came from Arabia and are called Arabic numerals. A different system was used in ancient Rome. We call these symbols Roman numerals. The Roman numeral system uses six basic symbols: I (one), V (five), X (ten), L (fifty), C (one hundred), and M (one thousand). There are two rules for writing Roman numerals:
2. Putting a numeral of lesser value before a numeral of greater value decreases the second numeral by the amount of the first. Thus IV equals four because V (five) is decreased by I (one).
3. Putting a numeral of lesser value after a numeral of greater value increases the first numeral by the amount of the second. Thus VI equals six because V (five) is increased by I (one).
4. Write some Roman numerals on a sheet of paper and challenge your child to figure out what numbers they represent. Start with easy ones, such as I (one), II (two), III (three), IV (four), V (five), VI (six), VII (seven), VIII (eight), IX (nine), and X (ten). When your child masters these numbers, try more difficult ones, such as XL (forty), LX (sixty), XC (ninety), and so on.
5. Take turns writing and interpreting Roman numerals.

More on: Activities for Children Ages 6-10

Excerpted from:

Copyright © 2001 by Patricia Kuffner. Excerpted from The Children's Busy Book with permission of its publisher, Meadowbrook Press.

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