Max Maths, Year 4, Learn together, Mental addition

In the Max Maths programme for Year 4, students are encouraged to enhance their mental addition skills by learning strategies that make adding numbers in their heads quicker and easier. One such strategy involves rearranging the numbers in an addition problem to find pairs that sum up to 10 or 20, which are easier to work with mentally. This technique is particularly useful because it simplifies the calculation process and helps students to compute the sums more efficiently.

For example, when adding 7 + 6 + 3, students can first identify that 7 + 3 equals 10. By rearranging the numbers to 7 + 3 + 6, they can then easily add 10 + 6 to get a total of 16. Similarly, in the case of adding 5 + 6 + 5 + 3, students can notice that 5 + 5 equals 10. Rearranging to 5 + 5 + 6 + 3 allows them to add 10 + 6 + 3 to reach a sum of 19. This method of looking for pairs that add up to 10 or 20 simplifies the process of mental addition and helps students to quickly calculate sums without the need for pen and paper.