If you haven’t memorized your multiplication table yet, I am going to show you how to you need to memorize only three of the 400 numbers on a 20 times table in order to know your table. Download the student…
Multiplication Tables
Category: Twisted Arithmetic
Magic of 11’s
This math lesson is so easy that one night, I wound up showing it to everyone in the pizza restaurant. Well, everyone who would listen, anyway. We were scribbling down the answers right on the pizza boxes with such excitement…
What is Math?
What is math? It can be compared to a very useful tool, or maybe a collection of tools. Sometimes textbooks concentrate a lot on teaching about the small details of each and every type of tool. But it’s also really…
How to Multiply by 12
Do you think you’ll need to know how to multiply by 12 or 11 more? Think of it this way: how often do you need to figure out how many dozen you need of something? It comes up a lot…
Finger Multiplication
Having trouble with your 6, 7, 8, and 9 multiplication tables? Sneak a peek at this nifty trick for multiplying single digits together. All you need is a set of hands and about ten minutes, and you’ll be a whiz…
How Does a Two-Fingered Alien Count? (Binary Counting)
One day, my kid asked me how a calculator comes up with its answers. That’s a great question, I thought. How does a calculator do math? After thinking about it, I realized this was a great way to teach him…
Division
If you hate long division like I do, then this lesson will be very useful in showing you how to make the most out of your division tasks without losing sleep over it. It’s easy, quick, and a whole lot…
Math from Left to Right
In school, you are trained to solve math problems on paper, at a desk. The problem with that is, for most people, math problems don’t usually come with a desk or a pencil. They pop up in the checkout line…
Divisibility
Can you look at a number and tell right away if it’s divisible by another number? Well, it’s pretty easy for 2 – if it’s an even number, it’s definitely divisible by two. Testing whether a number is divisible by…
What Day Were You Born On?
This is not only a neat trick but a very practical skill – you can figure out the day of the week of anyone’s birthday. If you were born in the 20th Century, (1900-1999), we can use math to find…
$1 Word Search
Have you ever heard of a dollar word search? It’s a special kind of puzzle where the letters in a word add up to a coin value. For example, an A is worth a penny, the letter B is worth two…
Isn’t that SUM-thing?
This is a neat trick that you can use to really puzzle your friends and family. If someone gives you a three-digit number, you can actually figure out what the end result will be after you’ve received two additional numbers,…
How to Add and Multiply Quickly in your Head
Want a peek under the ‘hood’ of my brain when I do a mental math calculation? This video is a slow-motion, step-by-step snapshot of what goes on when I add numbers in my head. The first thing you need to…
Multiplying 2-Digit Numbers by 11
Here’s our first MATH lesson. It is so easy that one night, I wound up showing it to everyone in the pizza restaurant. Well, everyone who would listen, anyway. We were scribbling down the answers right on the pizza boxes…
Multiplying 3-Digit Numbers by 11
If you can multiply 11 by any 2-digit number, then you can easily do any three digit number. There’s just an extra step, and make sure you always start adding near the ones so you can see where to carry…
Mental Mathemagic
We’re going to throw in a few math lessons here and there, so if math really isn’t your thing, free free to just watch the videos and see what you think. All of these lessons require only a brain, and…
Squaring Two-Digit Numbers
This neat little trick shortcuts the multiplication process by breaking it into easy chunks that your brain can handle. The first thing you need to do is multiply the digits together, then double that result and add a zero, and…
How to Square Bigger Numbers Faster in your Head
Squaring three-digit numbers is one of the most impressive mental math calculations, and it doesn’t take a whole lot of effort after you’ve mastered two-digits. It’s like the difference between juggling three balls and five balls. Most folks (with a…