EngOZ Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I posted this question before but I didn't get the answer I was after. How do you define mental maths and what does it mean to you? Please tell me what material you use to teach it. I've looked at Education Unboxed videos & I'm currently using SM with the HIG's guide for my 6yo dd. But I've skipped most of the HIG's exercise, I'm just not sure about teaching it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 We use Singapore math and it teaches mental math strategies. HIG also provides practice sets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I been wondering how to teach this. I should try signapore. What is HIG? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2lydia Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 No clue how to teach it as I know myself how to do it but don't know at what point I learned it or how. My daughter however has just learned it on her own, she doesn't always follow the teacher's methods, she hates to show her work as she has a hard time knowing how to write it down because she just does it in her head and even though she's in 2nd grade isn't really sure how to explain or show how she did it. She also feels it slows her down to have to show the work because she does the math in her head easily and quickly. My borhter is a math wiz and finally got a teacher in high school who would allow him to do the math mentally after he proved to him after school he could do it without showing the work. He can do algebra and geometry completely in his head and probably more if he had chosen to go further than that in math. He has an amazing mind that just takes to numbers so easily and quickly he can spit the answer out as fast as a calculator can give the answer and almost always is right. Not sure how to teach it but mental math means you do it in your head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I been wondering how to teach this. I should try signapore. What is HIG? The Singapore Math Home Instructor's Guide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2bee Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Mental Math--The ability to do arithmetic calculations in your head, typically meant to be quick and accurate calculations of simple equations. Thats what mental math is typically understood to be, but it can be expanded to cover even the mechanical bits of algebra and calculus also... I think it should be taught, but you don't need a special curriculum to do so. If you have a decent understanding of place value, factoring and what not, then a good article might be sufficient to get you started... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngOZ Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 What about flash cards, anyone tried using that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2lydia Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 We use flashcards to help review math skills. You can get them at places like the dollar store or buy a pack of index cards and make your own. You could even have your child help make them to help reinforce the skills. We use them especially for telling time and multiplication and division since those are new topics for us. When dd was younger we did addition and subtraction. We also use them for spelling words/vocab words. Something else fun to do is use the flashcards and make a memory game out of it. A match is any 2 problems that equal the same amount. Time drills are also good. For fun time drills check out abcya.com They are timed games that work on memorizing and learning to recall quickly facts. They have games for all kinds of subjects k-5 or 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elizabett Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I have a kindergarten girl in a classical academy and they are using Saxon Math and it is really dry. I was doing Right Start Math at home last year but now I have to change strategies due to time because they aren't grouping. It's is all memorized facts - she is losing number sense. Should I purchase Singapore math primary? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen. Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I have a kindergarten girl in a classical academy and they are using Saxon Math and it is really dry. I was doing Right Start Math at home last year but now I have to change strategies due to time because they aren't grouping. It's is all memorized facts - she is losing number sense. Should I purchase Singapore math primary? Do the placement test on the Singapore site to see where your daughter would fit. The site also has lots of sample pages. Christianbook.com has even more samples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trying my best Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 would ROCKET MATH be mental meth? probably not I think mental math comes automatically when you have to do 2 digits columns with caring over :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I have a kindergarten girl in a classical academy and they are using Saxon Math and it is really dry. I was doing Right Start Math at home last year but now I have to change strategies due to time because they aren't grouping. It's is all memorized facts - she is losing number sense. Should I purchase Singapore math primary? They use Saxon at dd's school and it is rather dry but they don't do memorization of facts in kindergarten. I guess every school does things differently even with the same curriculum. I just started using Signapore with dd and I like it so far. I also have C-rods and will be doing some stuff from the Education Unboxed videos. The kids enjoy working with those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abeilles Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 We use RS math and Miquon (2nd graders) and I have seen a huge increase in my daughter's mental math and number reasoning skills. She is also thinking more critically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngOZ Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 Thanks for your feedback Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathwonk Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 To me mental math just means visualizing the operations in my head. I don't know any tricks for it. The only way I know to learn it is to practice it, by just denying oneself pencil and paper. Once when I was sick in bed and couldn't get up, I practiced going through a complicated derivation of an algebraic result called the "snake lemma" I believe, involving chasing through a diagram of mappings of spaces joined by arrows representing functions that preserve algebraic properties. I found that it was just a matter of concentration. I hadn't realized beforehand that I could do this. For years now I have done mental math involving arithmetic, geometry and algebra. In fact I have trouble forcing myself to use paper and pencil, and that is a weakness I have, since it limits what I achieve and increases the time to accomplish it. But I enjoy thinking about math concepts. It works best for me with geometry which is very visual for me. I often do math all the way to school in my car, a commute of over an hour and a half. Fortunately, after the first 30 minutes, it is out in the country on a divided highway with little traffic. Whenever I have typed a math explanation or calculation here on this forum, I have usually done the work in my head while typing it. Sometimes just to be sure i am not misleading someone by typing nonsense I will check it on paper. Since to me math is more reasoning than calculation, doing it mentally is not so strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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