Number Sense Blog

  Have you ever heard of “the rule of three” (in Latin, “omne trium perfectum”)?  It’s a writing principle suggesting that things coming in threes are inherently more satisfying and useful than those that come in other number sets. And that’s c...

  Why do we make such a big deal out of pi? Because pi is a big deal. This irrational number that begins with 3.14 and goes on forever helps us understand so much about our universe. We first learn about pi when measuring circles, but pi is als...

  Since our first learning centre opened in California in the spring of 2002, we have grown to more than 1,000 Mathnasium Learning Centres worldwide. We are humbled and incredibly grateful that, with each centre we open, we profoundly impact th...

  Larry Martinek, Mathnasium Co-Founder and Principal Education Officer, is a beloved educator, teacher trainer, and curriculum consultant. And together with our expert team, he has spent years refining the most powerful teaching methods and ma...

  Does Mathnasium work? We conducted multiple parent surveys and independent studies to find out. And the answer is a resounding YES. Children who consistently attend our learning centers make tremendous strides in comprehension, confidence and...

Spring is the season of new beginnings. When flowers start to bloom, trees shake off the doldrums of winter and turn green, animals awaken from their winter slumbers and the earth seems to spring back to life (see what we did there?). Even in a...

  Back-to-school season is upon us, and with it comes the end of summer. To make it official, today we are celebrating the Fall Equinox! Also known as the Autumn Equinox, September 22, 2021, marks the First Day of Fall. But what does this me...

What is it about Mathnasium that helps students find success in math? The answer is simple: We teach for understanding. Instead of coaching students to rely on memorization, rote learning, or calculators, our highly trained instructors use multipl...

Unlike many academic subjects, math builds upon itself level by level, so it’s important to start with a strong foundation. The proven Mathnasium MethodTM forms the foundation for math mastery through deep understanding, with carefully selected to...

The language of the universe, math is omnipresent and unavoidable — and that’s a good thing. Math is a universal tool that helps our children thrive. From the earliest years, when parents show children the importance of sharing (dividing) with ...

  Another school year is here. Is your child ready? When it comes to studying, kids need to have good habits to start the year off right and stay on track. Good study habits will build strong math students and instill a positive outlook on t...

  It’s no secret that animals are amazing in all kinds of ways, but how many of us knew that they could do math? Studies show that many different species are able to determine quantity to help them solve a variety of problems, such as acquiring...

Do you remember our secret from our first video? Percent means “for each hundred”. If we want to find 12% of 250, we need to find “12 for each hundred“. In this case, we have two hundreds and half of one hundred. So, we count, 12 ...

Let us show you a secret: percent means something.   Per means for each, and cent means hundred.   If we want to find 5% of 300, we need to find “5 for each hundred”. So, we count, 5 for the first hundred, 5 for the second hundred, ...

The word half should bring to mind the image of two equal parts: “2 parts the same.”   To find half of any amount, cut the whole into “2 parts the same” and take either one. To find half of 6, we cut the whole of 6 circles into “2 parts t...

Recall that half means “2 parts the same,” “two equal parts.”   Half of 6 circles is 3 because we cut the whole into “2 parts the same” and take one part.   To find half of 7, we bring in one more circle and cut our new whole into “2 p...

The word quarter means “4 parts the same,” “four equal parts”.   To find a quarter of any amount, cut the whole into “4 parts the same” and take any one part. The trick to doing this easily is to “cut it in half and then cut the half in half...

Here is a number sense trick to help you calculate addition using mental math.   We want to find the sum of 9 + 8 + 7. Using our number sense, we turn to “friendly numbers” such as 10 or multiples of 10, to help make this math easier to work...

Here is a number sense trick to help you calculate subtraction using mental math.   We want to find the difference of 100 – 76. Using our number sense, we turn to “friendly numbers” to calculate how far apart are 76 and 100.   Starting...

Here is a number sense trick to help you calculate multiplication using mental math.   We want to find the product of 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1. Using our number sense, we want to find numbers close to ten or multiples of ten to make the multiplicat...