Mental Maths Activities That Are Beneficial

Considered a complex subject, most students find it intimidating and for most of them, as they age, it becomes more complicated. Though this is the case, it is an important part of life as it equips them with the necessary skills to face real life.
 

Easy Answers
 
Mental maths should be introduced from kindergarten grades to students who have a lower capacity of understanding maths. This should be done with easy to answer questions. If it is in a class setting, then the students should be presented with simplified math equations and the first one to get the right answer should shout it out. As this progress, it will eventually reach a point where the entire class shouts out the right answer as a team. As they age and get more equations correctly, then more complex math should be introduced. In this instance, students can use time tables, basic algebra and division facts. For instance this could be something that Y plus four equals 10 and the students should answer what Y is.


Complex Math

A large percentage of maths used in day to day life is mental math tricks. For instance, someone working at a store should figure out what 60% of $20 is, a driver is supposed to figure out how many hours he will drive to cover a 230 mile trip among others. This proves that math is an important part of life and as such, it is ideal to ensure that students solve mental maths equation every day. However, when carrying this out, it is important to ensure that it is age appropriate. For seventh graders 60% of $ 230 is ideal while for fourth graders 10% of 100 is appropriate. Students should be given the time to read the equation and work it out before providing the answers.


Story Problems

This is another important mental maths activity to indulge in. It should be on situational stories and students should be encouraged to work them out mentally. Also known as multi-mental math they are the best. This is attributed to the fact that they require more thought for the answer to be processed as well as mimicking the manner in which maths is used in real life situations. However, it is important to outline the equation in a manner that is easy to understand. Though challenging, these simple mannerisms when employed in the right manner, help students develop an instinctive accuracy handling mental maths.