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Mental mathematics is very important in teaching. There are four main reasons for the need for teaching mental mathematics rather than just testing it. Firstly, most calculations are made in the head than on paper. Secondly, mental work develops a sound number sense. Thirdly, mental work develops problem-solving skills and fourthly, mental work promotes success in later written work (Thompson, p. 147). It is very important to understand the essence of numbers and operations in order to learn complex mathematics (Seeley, 2005).
There are two basic types of mental mathematics namely mental recall and mental calculation/computation. The main difference is that mental recall is known as remembering in the head while mental computation is a calculation in the head. The mental recall is connected with the process of memorization. Understanding will be easier if new information is connected to the previously explained and understood facts. Mental computation should be developed as far as it is necessary in an everyday life. It should be developed explicitly during the schooling years. Reys defines mental computation as the process that “produces an exact answer, and the procedure is performed mentally, without using external devices such as pencil and paper” (p. 548). There are several steps in developing mental calculation namely developing basic addition facts, then basic subtraction facts, basic multiplication facts and basic division facts (Reys, p. 193-194).
There are a number of activities developing mental calculation and mental recall. For example, ‘Shoot the Sheriff’, ‘King of the Mountain’ and ‘Bingo’ may be used to improve the skills of mental calculation. All these games are based on the skills of pupils to calculate mentally. These games help children to practice basic procedures of mathematics. They are associated with a base-ten model consisting of ones, tens and hundreds. It develops the students’ ability to see numbers including other numbers as for example, 134 as 100+30+4. A base-ten model expands the understanding of the number system. The games that have been enumerated before reflecting the sound mental mathematics teaching practice. Factually children practice calculating mentally providing the results of their calculations in a sound form. These games help the teachers to present primary tips and mental shortcuts of mental calculations. For example, students are taught how to multiply numbers 10, 100 and 1000. Students are acquainted with all pairs of numbers adding up to 10 such as 6+4 or 7+3 and others. All this basic knowledge may be acquired with the help of simple activities such as ‘Shoot the Sheriff’, ‘King of the Mountain’ and ‘Bingo’. It is up to the teacher what kind of game to choose. It depends on the skills of the pupils and their abilities. The mental calculation, as well as mental recall, is not simple to be developed. They are connected to pupils’ abilities. There are pupils for whom mental calculation is a simple one as well as there are children who find it too difficult. These games may be successfully used to simplify the process of teaching mental mathematics.
From the above said, we may conclude that mental mathematics is very important and should be developed from the small school. Children should be introduced to basic mathematic procedures with the help of games. This basic knowledge is necessary to learn complex mathematics. If children are taught to calculate mentally it will be easier for them to work with more complex numbers and procedures.
Reference List
Reys, R., Lindquist, M., Lambdin, D., & Smith, N. (2009). Helping children learn mathematics (9th edition). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Seeley, C. (2005). Do the Math in Your Head. Web.
Thompson, I. (1999). Getting Your Head Around Mental Calculation. In I. Thompson. (Ed.) Issues in teaching numeracy in primary schools (Chapter 12). Buckingham: Open University Press.
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