Mental Math for Kids: How to Make Learning Fun

Advanced Strategies and Techniques

Mnemonic Devices

Mnemonic devices are like little memory tricks that help you remember important stuff. They're incredibly powerful tools for boosting your mental math skills. Here are a few examples:

• Acronyms: Remember "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" (PEMDAS)? We talked about it in chapter 2. It's a way to remember the order of operations in math.
• Rhymes or songs: Making up catchy tunes can help you memorize math formulas.
• Visual mnemonics: Look up the "butterfly method". For adding and subtracting fractions, it's a great example of using pictures to remember math concepts.

Here's a tip: Encourage children to make up their own mnemonic devices. This process helps them understand and remember the concepts even better.

Mental Math Tricks

Rounding Up When Multiplying by 9

Here's a neat trick for multiplying by 9:

1. Round up the number you're multiplying to the nearest ten.
2. Multiply that rounded number by 9 (which is the same as multiplying by 10 and subtracting the original number).
3. 3. Then subtract the difference between the rounded number and the original number from your result.

For example, let's say you're doing 68 x 9:

• Round 68 up to 70
• 70 x 9 = 630
• Subtract 18 (2 x 9) from 630
• You get 612!

Doubling and Halving

This trick is great when one of your numbers is even:

1. Double one number and halve the other.
2. Keep doing this until you get to a calculation that's easy to do in your head.

For instance, to calculate 16 x 35:

• Double 35 to 70, and halve 16 to 8
• 8 x 70 = 560

Problem-Solving Techniques

Cover-Copy-Compare

The Cover-Copy-Compare (CCC) is great for improving your accuracy and speed. Here's how it works:

1. Look at a math problem that's already solved correctly.
2. Cover it up and write it out from memory.
3. Uncover the original and compare your work to the correct answer.

This can be applied to various mathematical skills and is particularly beneficial for students with learning difficulties.

Taped-Problem Approach

This approach uses recordings to help you practice. Here's what you do:

1. Make a worksheet with math problems and spaces for answers.
2. Record yourself reading each problem, followed by a short pause.
3. As you listen to the recording, try to write the answer during the pause.
4. If you don't answer in time or get it wrong, write the correct answer when it's given in the recording.

This method combines what you hear with what you write, which helps you learn and remember better.