Ray's New Practical Arithmetic · Merchants' Bills · Unit 6: United States Money
32. Reading and checking a bill
Goal: Your child works out each line of a bill (quantity times price) and totals it.
You'll need
- The book
- A slate, small whiteboard or scrap paper
- A notebook and pencil
What's in the book
Merchants' bills: what a bill or account is, then four bills to work out (problems 18 to 21), each a list of goods with quantity and price. Answers are printed.
The lesson, step by step
Warm-up
Mental: 4 pounds at 25 cents? 3 yards at 15 cents? 10 pounds at 9 cents?
What a bill is
Read:
A Bill or Account, is a written statement of articles bought or sold, with their prices, and entire cost.
If you have a recent store receipt, show it. It does the same job.
Work the first bill together
Read the first lines of problem 18:
Bought 9 pounds Coffee, at $0.32 per lb.
4 pounds Tea, at $1.25 do.
Say"do." means "ditto", the same unit again. Multiply each line (9 × $0.32 = $2.88; 4 × $1.25 = $5.00), write the amounts in a column, and add. The printed total is $15.33.
Independent practice
Your child works bills 19, 20 and 21, writing each line's cost in a money column, the way the book sets out bill 18.
Check
Totals are printed. If a total is off, check each line's multiplication before the addition.
Wrap-up
Make a three-line bill together from your own pantry with today's prices and total it.
Tip
Setting out a bill neatly, with the decimal points in one column, is the whole skill here. Let your child rule the columns.