Memoria Math Challenge: Level D – Student Drills

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Our goal for math in the primary grades is the mastery of basic facts. One of the most effective ways to help students achieve mastery is simply to practice.

With daily timed drills, Memoria Math Challenge is designed to give students that math practice and also to help the teacher measure students’ immediate recall. We start with addition, subtraction, and number dictation in kindergarten, and ramp up to 200 daily problems by the end of first grade.

If students are able to master their math facts in the primary years, they can devote more time to complex math operations in grammar school and upper school.

When it comes to administering these drills, be encouraging and enthusiastic. Let students know that we want to see “what they can do” and that they are only competing with themselves. Students will mirror your enthusiasm. Students will only need a copy of the drill and a pencil. There is no need to use erasers to correct answers during a drill; it just slows down speed. if a student makes a mistake during the timed portion of the drill, encourage him to “x” out the incorrect answer and write the correct answer beside it.

We would recommend that you start your timer at 0 and let it count up rather than down from a specific time. This alleviates student anxiety. Students are only competing with their own time, so they should be trying to beat their previous score each day, shaving off seconds as they gain mastery. Typically, you should expect students to complete each drill within 10 minutes.

Memoria Press’ mathematics program is based on mastery learning that utilizes memorization and repeated practice in the lower grades. Students must over-learn basic math skills in middle school in order to be successful in the more conceptual high school math.