Fun  With Numbers

 Mathematics is considered as a non-stimulating and boring   subject. Despite technology aids and innovation in   teaching methods, there is not much change in the attitude   of  students or in the general

perception about the subject.

As a teacher, I feel one of the major reasons for this deep-   rooted belief is the way we adults deal with the subject. From   the time that a child is four or five years old, we try to stuff   his/her head with math facts (for example, in the form of   multiplication tables). While a few of them cope with this   approach, majority of children find it extremely difficult to   recall facts, and this makes them feel they are not good at Maths.

In my teaching career, I have also found that students’ mental maths skills are extremely poor and there is a common tendency among them to reach out for a calculator or use pen and paper for each and every simple calculation that they need to do.

For about 10 years, I have been teaching Vedic mathematics along with school maths. I was completely awed by the ancient Indian wisdom in this approach. Here is how Vedic mathematics can help
children:

• Using Vedic mathematics, a student need not memorize any multiplication table above 5.
• As the student learns more techniques, he will be able to do even complicated calculations mentally.
• The ability to do mental calculations quickly will be a significant advantage when the child takes competitive exams.
• Practice in these techniques boosts the confidence level of children to a great degree and they fall in  love with the Math in no time.

Avoid memorising multiplication tables above 5

Example 1:
Let’s see how we can find out the answer for 8 x 9.

Step 1: Write the facts you want to find the answer for 8 x 9

Step 2:
Subtract each digit from 10 (which is known as the base number close to the given number)

8 x 9

2    1

Step 3:
To find the unit place of the answer, multiply the difference written below each number, 2 and 1, and we get 2 as the unit place of the answer.

Step 4:
Subtract any of the differences written below crosswise from the number written above. You can either subtract 1 from 8 or 2 from 9, and the answer is written as the 10’s place digit of the answer.

And we have 72 as the product of 8 and 9.

Example 2:

6 x 7

4    3

(Subtracting 6 from 10, we have 4, and 7 from 10, we get 3)