Math in your head!

So today we discussed the fact that really knowing the times tables is super important for our abilities to function with even basic math.  Knowing many of the tricks that are taught in The Secrets of Mental Math, will make shopping, banking, and other day to day aspects of math so much easier.

How do you do any of those things?  Practice!  Practice, practice and yeah... more practice.  There are tricks of course... like the cool things about 9s.  Or remembering that any even number times 5 will always end in a 0.  Anything multiplied by 4 is just multiplied by 2 and then 2 again.  Or even the silly trick I told you that I use: 6x9 is the same as 6x10 - 6, or 54.  And since the other weird multiplication number to remember is 7x8, that one is 56 (and not 54, like I'm sometimes inclined to think).  I've been practicing.  Adam already chose squaring 2-digit numbers, but it's such a cool trick that I've been doing it a little every day, too.  I'm pretty good with anything that ends in 5-0, but for some reason have a harder time with things that end in 1-4.  So still working on it.  But I'll get there.

So this week, keep reading through chapter 5.  Work on your Ninja Training (stepping it up).  And pick your mathemagic skill to start working on.  And do your math worksheet, timing it.  Do that TODAY, if you haven't already.  While you're practicing all your math skills during this unit, you're going to improve your abilities!  But of course, you actually have to practice for that to work.