HOW TO UNLEASH YOUR CHILD’S MENTAL MATH POWER
In a world where calculator apps are found in every cellphone, we ask ourselves, is mental math still a necessary skill? The answer is a definite YES! If you have asked the same question, you probably are guilty of believing the common mental math myth that being good in mental math is just about being able to do math in your head. According to Cathy Seeley, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics President, although mental math is often associated with the ability to do computations quickly, in its broadest sense, mental math also involves conceptual understanding and problem solving.
How then can you help your child be skillful in mental math, mastering both conceptual understanding and computational fluency? Here are some helpful tips:
- Explicitly teach the mental math strategies. Teach your child one mental math strategy each week. This will give your child ample time to master one strategy before learning a new one. Make sure to emphasize when it is best to use each strategy. This will empower your child in choosing the best tool to use when dealing with a certain math problem.
- Do not teach mental math strategies as mere tricks. Back them up with math concepts. A common misconception about mental math is that it is just about rote memorization or information retrieval. One must understand that mental math is more than just memorizing multiplication facts. The downside of having this mindset is that we end up putting more importance on the results or answers rather than numerical fluency. Thus, some end up teaching children mere math tricks instead of math strategies that leverage mathematical properties and concepts such as the distributive property, factors of numbers, percentage, and inverses. It is crucial to teach the kids not just the “hows” but the “whys” behind each mental math strategy.
- Make the learning experience fun. You may use materials like whiteboards, counters, blocks, Powerpoint presentations when introducing a math strategy. Since younger children are most likely visual learners, they can understand the strategy better when introduced to them with visual aids or hands-on materials. The more engaging the experience is, the more they learn from them.
- Apply mental math in real life. The next time you visit a toy store, ask your child how much will two of her favorite dolls cost or how much cheaper is the toy robot than the toy car. Applying mental calculation in everyday life lets children practice their skills wherever they are. It also helps them realize how useful this skill really is, which may motivate them to practice even more.
- Practice, practice, practice. Reinforce the math strategies by giving your children oral and written drills. You may also let your kids play mental math online games and apps to gain mental math proficiency.
To bring out the mental mathematician in your child, Kinetic Math offers Mental Math Program which aims to teach children PROVEN strategies to compute mentally with accuracy and speed. This will empower the students to calculate mathematically in their heads without using paper and pencil. In this course, children will develop the fluency, flexibility and strategic thinking in mental computation by addressing the following:
- WHAT: Children will learn the basic number facts and other math concepts.
- WHEN: Students will have the ability to recognize the demands of a problem and choose the best strategy to solve it.
- WHY: Each strategy is anchored to math concepts, making it easier for students to understand why a procedure works.
- HOW: Various mental math strategies in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division will be discussed systematically and thoroughly in the course.
To know more about our mental math program, you may visit or contact us at:
3rd floor, Bonifacio Technology Center, 31st St. corner 2nd Ave., Crescent Park West, BGC, Taguig
09179642244
285 P. Guevarra St., San Juan City
09668149165
2nd floor, FBR Arcade, Katipunan Road, Loyola Heights, Quezon City
09954592600
Email address: kineticmath@yahoo.com and kineticmathonlineclass@gmail.com
Facebook page: kineticmathcenter
Twitter: @KineticMath
Instagram: @kineticmathcenter
Website: www.kineticmathcenter.net
