Mental arithmetic. Methodological guide for teachers and parents. Kuralay Eruskyzy Zhunisbekova

discretion of the teacher. The goal of mental arithmetic is not fast counting, but the development of both hemispheres of the brain, and fast counting is already a positive cost. You always need to complicate examples and dictation (dictate two-digit, three-digit, complicate the row, increase the speed of dictation, etc.). After level 4, students of all ages are compared in terms of decision speed and performance.

      From the first lessons, it is recommended to voice 4 dictation rules:

      – Do not talk. If someone starts talking, the speed of dictation increases

      – Do not repeat. Who did not manage to finish, puts a point or minus and solve the next exercise.

      – It is important to be honest. Do not cheat and count in mind. Who solves everything honest will be able to count three of four and so on.

      – After the dictation we quickly fix the answers under dictation, put + and – if the results are correct or incorrect

      – The rule is the same characters: «the same sign twice, not repeated if they are in a row». For example, 1+2+3 reads as «one plus two, three», or 8-1-3 reads as «eight minus one, three». This rule develops photographic memory and concentration

      1.5 The solution of tasks on hearing mental (mental dictation)

      Mental dictation is a dictation during which children solve examples on an imaginary drum (mentally) under the dictation of the teacher. You need to remember what soroban looks like. And the right hemisphere of our brain is responsible for reproducing images. But issuing an answer is the concern of the left hemisphere, which is responsible for calculations and logic. Therefore, it turns out that both hemispheres are involved in the work.

      The teacher dictates examples according to the plan and a little faster than children can solve. You need to focus on students who have high speed, not slow ones. The rules for a dictation are the same as those in the oral dictation. The dictation is followed by mutual verification.

      You need to complicate the examples gradually (rows, speed of dictation).

      In the future, you can include a portal / simulator (an online platform for mental counting) in the classroom, which is even more interesting for students.

      In order to teach children to reproduce the soroban in their head, you must ask them to imagine one soroban spoke in their head. Then, slowly dictate the examples, controlling how children count with their fingers in the air on an imaginary soroban. Check that children considered the mental, and not in the mind. You must learn to reproduce this from the beginning.