- Wednesday 04 August 2021
Mental maths can be daunting for children, and hey, sometimes it’s tricky for us adults too! Luckily, there are some methods that can make mental maths easier to learn and apply. Read on for a few mental maths tips and tricks to help your children master their mental arithmetic in no time. You’ll wish you’d known them in school!
5 mental maths tips and tricks
1. Doubling large numbers
- Multiply each number by 2 and add them together.
As an example: 243 x 2
200 x 2 = 400
40 x 2 = 80
3 x 2 = 6
400 + 80 + 6 = 486
2. Multiplying 2-digit numbers by 11
- Add the two digits together and place the result in the middle! How easy is that?
As an example: 34 x 11
3 + 4 = 7
Answer: 374
3. Multiplying by 9
- Multiply the number by 10, then subtract the original number from the total.
As an example: 47 x 9
47 x 10 = 470
470 – 47 = 423
4. Multiplying decimals by 10, 100, 1000
- To multiply a number by 10, move the decimal point once to the right.
E.g. 45.725 x 10 = 457.25 - To multiply a number by 100, move the decimal point twice to the right.
E.g. 45.725 x 100 = 4572.5 - To multiply a number by 1000, move the decimal point three times to the right.
E.g. 45.725 x 1000 = 45 725
5. Dividing decimals by 10, 100, 1000
- To divide a number by 10, move the decimal point once to the left.
E.g. 6292.3 ÷ 10 = 629.23 - To divide a number by 100, move the decimal point twice to the left.
E.g. 6292.3 ÷ 100 = 62.923 - To divide a number by 1000, move the decimal point three times to the left.
E.g. 6292.3 ÷ 1000 = 6.2923
Put these tips and tricks into practice!
New Wave Mental Maths workbooks are perfect for children to reinforce, practice and consolidate their learning. This series provides daily maths practice to increase pupils’ fluency and automaticity across all maths strands. There’s 200 days’ of practice with a Friday Review every week. For the more confident mathematicians, they can have a go at testing their mental maths recall speed.
What have teachers and parents said about New wave mental maths?
Kirsty, Year 3 teacher
One of my absolute favourite resources to use in the classroom!
Jac, Year 5 teacher
These are fantastic for differentiation and revision in the classroom. I use them all the time.
Mrs. Jones, Year 2 teacher
Love these books! We use this as early morning maths work everyday! Kids love them.
Paarul P, parent
This is a favourite in our home and great for daily rigour. My grade 3 child loves this workbook and I never hear any complaints. The format is nice and not overwhelming.
Interested in finding out more?
Check out more information here or download a free sample below!
Click here to download your free sample now.
Mental maths tricks sourced from https://www.rd.com/list/easy-math-tricks-youll-wish-youd-known/
