Here is the problem most students have with multi-digit place value and operations: They write 400,030 when the number says “four hundred thousand three” — the zero placeholders disappear. They multiply a 4-digit number and only write ONE partial product instead of four. They divide, get the quotient, and throw the remainder in the trash — even when the problem asks “how many are left over?” These are not careless mistakes. These are gaps in understanding, and they show up every year on the LEAP