What is mental maths?
Should the answer to this question be - it is the ability to work mathematically in your head or it is the ability to work mathematically with your head?
I grew up with one of those definitions. Guess which one? Maybe, this will give you a clue.
Ever been a witness to a parent calculate a 4-digit by 4-digit multiplication mentally within seconds? That was me, at the age of 6 watching my mum mentally calculate the cost of something in Gujarati! I vividly remember saying to myself, my mum is a genius. (I couldn’t fathom calculating a 4 by 4-digit multiplication in English let alone Gujarati.) Believe it or not, that was a defining moment for me.
In this session, we will explore the definitions and look at examples that support the key to mental calculations - using a range of strategies to answer the same question. Is there an alternative method? Are known facts required? Are the strategies efficient? This approach, therefore, lends itself well to a student-centred approach, thus, providing the opportunity to articulate their methods; bring awareness of alternative methods onto their radar and the opportunity to discuss the efficiency of the methods.
Remember that numbers on their own are just names - names given to a collection of items. Likewise, operations (+, -, x, ÷, =) are just operators. However, when merged to create a number expression, they have the potential to be computed. (In the primary classroom, we see this from the very basic 1+1 to number bonds to 10 and beyond.) It is the ‘how and why’ of this computation that is of interest to us, specifically the mental calculations.
With this in view, be prepared to come away from the session with valuable new strategies and supporting visual representations to use in your settings. So, bring your problems with mental maths strategies to be solved in the session!
Word of warning: it will help with all maths lessons too!
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