Reanalyzes data obtained in 1987 on mental calculation strategies used by 11-year-olds in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Classifies mental strategies developed in the past decade in international research. Compares frequency and effectiveness of the strategies used by pupils of different levels of attainment. Discusses basic arithmetic…

Parents have many opportunities every day to develop, nurture, and refine their children's mathematics skills. This pamphlet was designed to help parents become aware of these opportunities and to encourage them to participate in their children's learning process. Estimation is the skill of making a reasonably accurate guess and is prominently…

Research on the structures and processes involved in simple mental arithmetic is reviewed. Results suggest that mental arithmetic is a memory retrieval phenomenon, which develops with the experiences of elementary school and can be understood in general as retrieval from organized network representations. Simple mental addition with basic facts…

Support of the need for more emphasis on mental arithmetic in the classroom is given. Classroom methods and activities for developing skill in mental arithmetic are included. (MN)

Presented is a method of teaching adding and subtracting as an interrelated series of patterns using a number line. Examples of the use of this method as well as the materials necessary are discussed. Applications of the method to multiplication and division are given. (CW)

Tests of computational estimation ability (CEA), strategy (CES), and mental computation ability (MCA) of (n=124) fourth, (n=143) fifth, and (n=84) sixth graders found significant relationships between CEA and MCA and between CEA and CES but not between MCA and CES. (12 references) (Author/MKR)

What students need to know in a world where most computations are done by machine is discussed. Needed changes in the mathematics curriculum are then detailed in relation to mental arithmetic, numeration, decimals and fractions, paper-and-pencil computation, order of operations, problem solving, and instruction on calculator use. (MNS)

The author suggests that the efficient use of mathematics in everyday life means translating situations into mathematical contexts, using a calculator and mental methods of calculation. Suggestions for teaching these concepts are included. (PK)

Proposes a framework that identifies the components of number sense and the attributes of students who possess it. Discusses various aspects of three areas where number sense plays a key role: number concepts, operations with numbers, and applications of number and operation. (MDH)

This material describes two games, Minicomputer Tug-of-War and Minicomputer Golf. The Papy Minicomputer derives its name from George Papy, who invented and introduced it in the 1950's. The Minicomputer is seen as an abacus with the flavor of a computer in its schematic representation of numbers. Its manner of representation combines decimal…

Students in grades 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and college were timed as they produced the answers to simple addition problems or verified a given problem as true or false. First graders clearly relied on a counting process for their performance, as advanced by the Groen and Parkman "min" (for minimum addend) model. Third grade appears to be a…

Describes three activities using dominoes, playing cards, and the calendar to give students mathematical experiences reinforcing basic skills and problem-solving strategies that involve patterns, relationships, and functions. Students discover mathematical relationships underlying the magic tricks used in the activities. (MDH)

The Calculators in Primary Mathematics Project was a long-term investigation into the effects of the introduction of calculators on the learning and teaching of primary mathematics. The Australian project commenced with children who were in kindergarten and grade 1 in 1990, moving up through the schools to grade 4 level by 1993. Children were…

Traditional methods of teaching addition include algorithms that involve right-to-left procedures. This article describes efficient procedures for left-to-right addition and subtraction involving computation and computational estimation that reflect children's natural behaviors observed during activities with unifix cubes. (MDH)

The problem of innumeracy in general and at the primary school level in particular is attributed to a structuralist design of instruction emphasizing an algorithmic approach to arithmetic. Offered is an alternative learning approach developing arithmetic as an informal context-bound activity tied to mental arithmetic and estimation. (MDH)