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Mental Math Grades 4th-8th

(2 customer reviews)

$40.00

Mental math is the process of doing math problems in your head. Generally it’s math you already know, but are aiming for proficiency and mastery. Mental math calls on capabilities of memory, math ability and the ability to work out math problems in your head without a paper and pencil or calculator.

This Mental Math curriculum is designed for grades 4-8. There are three 36-week years worth of math problems organized by weeks. Each day there are six questions totally 30 questions a week. That’s over 1000 math problems a year, with over 3000 problems total. I typically recycle my math problems, often offering some simple questions to my students as well as challenging ones. The simple questions offer wins and diminish math fatigue. If the challenging ones are too difficult, skip them! There are plenty of questions, you won’t soon run out.

Mental math the Waldorf inspired way (and with my own additions), involves two part questions (more so as the children grow, less so when they are first starting out), in which two different math operations are completed in one problem. One other significant difference you’ll find with mental math the Waldorf way is that sometimes the answer is offered and the solutions are discovered. It looks something like this: “What makes 12?” You ask a student. “3 x 4,” a student offers. “4 x 3,” another student says. “6 x 2” another chimes in. “24 divided by 2,” yet another student says. You can quickly see how many answers there can be. While not many questions are posed this way, they are scattered throughout the worksheets.

This math curriculum is designed to support your existing math curriculum not to replace it. I usually use mental math are part of our opening activities.

**All sales final for this product, so please be sure to view the samples before buying.**

If you don’t receive an email upon payment with the download link, please check your spam folder. If you have a Yahoo or Hotmail account, you may not receive an email at all. There is a consistent issue with those two accounts. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience. If you don’t receive an automated email within an hour, please email me at hana@pepperandpine.com

This product is a digital download. Link in email upon payment.

 

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Mental Math are math questions that can be worked out in one’s head. Often, they are two part questions which involve a multiplication or division question first, followed by an addition or subtraction question next. When you add in fractions, decimals and percents, you can easily see how complex the questions can become.

One thing about math is that it is exact. 12 x 4 = 48. Always. It isn’t maybe 47 or sometimes 49, it’s simply 48. That’s one thing I love about math. There’s one right answer. Or is there? What you ever tried math the Waldorf way? Instead of asking what is 3 x 4? You can ask what makes 12? When you ask the second question, you can have an infinite number of answers! Each answer is exact and right, but now instead of just having one right answer, you have several right answers.

I recognize that the mental math sheets may be too basic or too advanced for your child. Here are some tips on how to use it:
Too basic: That’s okay, it’s still working and gives your student some small wins.
Too advanced: Skip it! Don’t worry if your child doesn’t know this math, or doesn’t know how to do multiple operations. Simplify the questions or skip them.
We haven’t learned this yet: Take the opportunity to teach the math in a basic way, but minimally. We don’t want to derail your goals. Or skip those problems.
Just right, but not enough: Double up on daily mental math. You can reuse these sheets year after year! While grades 1-3 have a total of 72 weeks worth of math, each day only has four questions. 
When my children were young (1-3 grade), I only did 2-4 questions a day. 
When my children were 5-8th grade, they were doing 6-10 questions a day.

Check out the full length Mental Math Video for a complete look at this curriculum.

Did you find a math error? Let me know! It happens. Even though this curriculum was triple checked, it’s very possible mistakes were missed. I appreciate you letting me know so I can update the file.

2 reviews for Mental Math Grades 4th-8th

  1. Wendi (verified owner)

    I use both sets of Mental Math, and kids love it! (They actually ask for it… everyone…from the third grader to the senior !)
    I printed out one copy per student so that I could highlight the answers they get correct, as Hanna illustrated.
    Its a great value for 3 years worth of drills, and I’m so glad I ordered!

  2. Amy Eickelmann (verified owner)

    I added this to our morning basket. My son looks forward to it!

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