Difficulty With Mental Calculations?
Michela Giovannini
The following contribution presents an enhancement programme carried out in a primary school in Trentino with the aim of overcoming mathematical difficulties relating to mental arithmetic. The programme was proposed to a pupil (nine years ago) who, like many children today, has had great difficulty with mathematics since her early school years, accompanied by discomfort and anxiety. It is important for teachers to identify their pupils’ weaknesses so that they can strengthen the areas involved by providing the tools necessary for them to subsequently do so independently. In the case presented, mental arithmetic is strengthened, an important cognitive process for numerical intelligence that improves the accuracy and speed of the cognitive processes involved through the learning of strategies and the automation of arithmetic facts. The enhancement programme has chosen an active, conscious and creative methodology of calculation strategies with various tools and individual and playful activities. The programme followed a metacognitive and self-assessment approach, as it is essential that each child is aware of their own learning process, difficulties and improvements, which stimulate a sense of greater competence and self-esteem.
Keywords
Mental Calculation, Learning, Enhancement, Strategies and Arithmetic Facts, Metacognition.