Trouble with Mathematics?

[Vivianne]

galled, I think it depends on what comes naturally to you. If I'm adding a bunch of two digit numbers, I first focus on the tens digits and try to put them in pairs that add to ten to figure out the approximate hundreds digit. I then add up the remaining tens digits. I tackle the units digits similarly. There are other nuances, but there are too many edge cases to explain in a concise manner.

Mental, 'fun', and quick computation takes a LOT of practice. In middle school, I had 2 hour mandatory practice sessions at least 2-3 times a week plus my own practice to stay competitive, and my own practice was just to keep up with my own school. I'm glad I stepped back in high school because the environment attracted a lot of really toxic people.

[galled]

Doh, I think my memory will need to improve before I could do that in my head--I'm already forgetting the numbers I've already heard as the next ones are entering my ears!

Maybe I should be ecstatic if I could just even write out the problem and solve it without doing it longhand!

I tend to do what you describe for quick approximations (and tend to re-calc a couple of times the ones if I need accuracy). But if the list of numbers to add is more than a few (I'll slow down after a half dozen or more) and will totally get lost with more than a dozen because I have a hard time remembering/keeping track of which numbers I've already grouped/sumed!

Any strategies to help cope with that?

[Vivianne]

If you're dealing with numbers you're hearing, I have no idea. If you have the numbers on a sheet in front of you and are allowed to write, a small mark is useful.

Sometimes, I round each number up to the nearest multiple of ten and keep track of by how much so I can subtract from the rounded total. Though when I do this with a long list of numbers, I generally keep track of the extras by counting in sign. People generally have no clue I'm doing that, and if they do, they don't often stop me.

Would you or anyone else be interested in math tricks? I have a lot, though most are going to be useless to daily life.

[Juniperr]

I only properly understood fractions a little while ago hahah.. thanks I'll take time to properly read what you wrote