Minute Maths

This is an excellent way to increase mental maths skills at any age. I am using it with my Year 1 child, aged 5.

The idea is to do as many sums as possible in just one minute.

I made a sheet of sums today and was very over-optimistic about Francesca's mental maths speed, even though all the sums were "plus 1".

She paused to rub out a mistake for a few seconds, which reduced her score, but even so, I overestimated her by a long shot(!)

Never the less, I praised her efforts and said she had managed to do "SEVEN WHOLE SUMS! In just 60 seconds!!!"

No doubt she'll be quicker tomorrow without the rubbing out, and quicker by the day as she:
a) Becomes better at mental maths
b) Learns more about the passing of time and the merits of speed (we wish!)

I'll no doubt be making more mental-maths sums along the way, so keep an eye out for resource-updates.
Meanwhile, you can download your own copy of these sums here. Happy adding!