Objectives:

• To consider the pre-requisites for developing mental strategies and where mental calculation fits into the big picture
• To look at ways in which to encourage children to learn and remember number facts and procedures
• To consider the importance of counting and place value
• To explore different strategies for mental calculation
• To look at some games and puzzles which support mental calculation and mental recall

By the end of the course, delegates will be familiar with:

• The big picture of the progression in mental calculation
• Resources to support children with rapid recall of number facts considering different learning styles
• The difficulties for those children with poor memory skills and the complexity of counting
• The essentials in KS1 to enable progress in KS2
• Models, activities and games to help the understanding of place value
• Enjoyable ways to practice mental calculation with individual, paired and group games