Want to Get Better at Mental Arithmetic? Here's What to Do

Addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication are all mental maths skills you need to know. Here’s how e-learning and other tools can help you become a master of mental arithmetic.

Today, most of us have smartphones or other electronic devices that have built-in calculators. These come in handy when it’s time to figure out the tax on a purchase or do other simple arithmetic in our daily lives.

Does that mean that you no longer need to be able to perform mental arithmetic? Is it an outdated and irrelevant skill in this day and age?

Of course not. Knowing how to do mental maths quickly and accurately is still an extremely important skill for everyone to have, both during their schooling and in their daily lives.

Why is it important to be able to do mental arithmetic?

For one thing, mental arithmetic is far, far faster than keying numbers into an electronic device. Remember that your brain is actually a far more powerful “computer” than even the most advanced device.

When you’re working on timed tests like your A levels in mathematics and physics, you often don’t have the time to use a calculator to work through each and every question. You need to be able to rely on your brain to perform quick calculations to produce the correct answers as quickly as possible. Using your brain rather than a machine also eliminates the possibility of keying in a wrong number or making another manual mistake that will produce an incorrect answer.

Speed and accuracy is also incredibly important in daily life, from estimating amounts and making change for purchases to telling the time on an analog clock and understanding schedules. These are lifelong skills that you need to have to function smoothly in your day-to-day life.

How can I improve at mental maths?

Want to get better at mental maths? Practice makes perfect!

The more calculations you practise doing in your head, the more confidence you will naturally build up, and the faster and easier it will become to do mental arithmetic.

What’s more, as you practise and train your brain, you will naturally discover and develop new techniques that let you perform calculations quickly and easily.

A study of European students demonstrated precisely this effect. As they repeated the mental strategies they had learned to perform mental arithmetic, their proficiency with numeracy improved significantly. Even more importantly, they felt more confident about their abilities and their perspective towards maths also benefited greatly.

So, don’t wait to start! You can give yourself some basic training right away by doing daily calculations in your head when you’re working on schoolwork, adding up prices while you shop, preparing budgets and timetables, and any other daily tasks that involve simple arithmetic.

Gradually increasing the challenge is key

Once you’re in the habit of doing basic mental maths, in order to get better, you need to challenge yourself with new mathematical concepts.

Gradually increasing the difficulty level will provide the mental challenge you need to make progress and it’s much more fun and engaging for your brain. Plus, after you’ve “graduated” to more difficult mental arithmetic, doing basic calculations is much easier.

It’s also important to incorporate games as part of the learning process, in order to keep things fresh and exciting for students. As much as possible, these games should be included as a natural part of the instruction and students should have an active choice in the lessons, so that they enjoy themselves and advance to increasingly higher levels of mental arithmetic.

Use Studeo to excel at mental arithmetic

Hiring a private tutor is one way to gain access to this kind of structured training and keep your mental maths skills sharp. Tutors typically charge by the hour for their services, so you should be prepared to invest a significant amount of money if you decide to pursue this option.

A more affordable option (that doesn’t sacrifice quality of instruction) is to use a tutoring app like Studeo. Studeo is an e-learning app that uses video learning with top-level Cambridge tutors to provide an elite level of tutoring that is accessible and affordable to students and to anyone wishing to improve their mental arithmetic.

To learn more about how Studeo uses the most effective mental maths techniques, visit our website at https://studeo.app.