Worksheets to improve your mental calculation.

The concepts, strategies and mathematical abilities we desire our students to acquire are the more complex, the arithmetic operations to be solved are less important. Frequently, professors take for granted that this ability is widely acquired, and anyway, it is no longer the competence to be assessed. They even permit the use of calculator when taking an exam . Nevertheless, a secondary student having problems when solving an easy operation is regarded as undesirable.

The situation commonly starts once the student discover s the “magic” of calculators and use them at home every single time an operation appears among their activities.

According to Wikipedia in Spanish: “It is the most extended mathematical activity, and the least used at school. Some of its benefits are: developing of numerical sense as well as intellectual abilities such as attention and focusing, apart from an appreciation of Mathematics” I would add another advantage: “Self-confidence to face Math s tests”.

Maybe solving some mental calculations for 15-20 minutes a week wouldn´t be a bad idea.