[xorosetylerxo]

Not in my head I couldn't add that up

Maybe on paper

[Rose*~*]

Originally Posted by BlueBell1954

Sigh, I'm with Ashleigh on this one, I couldn't just add those figures up in my head, in fact I would even struggle to add them up on paper. Now I'm no idiot, I even went to University! I've just got a fear of numbers, I'm not proud of it and I've tried over the years to get over it, going to special classes etc

We can't all be good at everything, we can't all know everything, Ashleigh probably knows things that I don't and she thinks are common knowledge, that's life.,

Now for some reason, I don't think Ashleigh's got dyscalculia or any other learning disability..... it was just another reason to get out of doing a chore, and to promote her 'I'm just fick I'm from Essex in'I?'-persona she's going for.

[Rose*~*]

On the other hand, if 'big numbers' are so difficult to add up, why did they not keep a running total, wouldn't that have made things a bit easier?

[Swinetown]

I have a quote on my profile that is very apt for this discussion.

"Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid" A Einstien.

[Teddybear99]

Originally Posted by StarryNight1983

I'd struggle to if I had that stupid thing they call becky screaming in my face telling me I'm going to slow & to hurry up!!

Becky is a young woman.

[Teddybear99]

Originally Posted by Swinetown

I have a quote on my profile that is very apt for this discussion.

"Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid" A Einstien.

One of my favourite quotes along with 'No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent' Eleanor Roosevelt.

[wonkeydonkey]

Originally Posted by Rose*~*

Now for some reason, I don't think Ashleigh's got dyscalculia or any other learning disability..... it was just another reason to get out of doing a chore, and to promote her 'I'm just fick I'm from Essex in'I?'-persona she's going for.

Of course it's not dyscalcula. That is used to describe otherwise bright and competent people who have a major problem with numbers. She has a major problem, as far as one can tell, with everything. She appears never to have cooked, never to have washed up or cleaned, and to have learned virtually nothing about anything at school.

[Swinetown]

Originally Posted by Teddybear99

One of my favourite quotes along with 'No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent' Eleanor Roosevelt.

That's a good one aswell

[avon942]

Originally Posted by wonkeydonkey

Of course it's not dyscalcula. That is used to describe otherwise bright and competent people who have a major problem with numbers. She has a major problem, as far as one can tell, with everything. She appears never to have cooked, never to have washed up or cleaned, and to have learned virtually nothing about anything at school.

She does wash up and has been shown to do so on the highlights. She left school with 3 GCSEs so she obviously learnt something.

Stop exaggerating everything.

[avon942]

Originally Posted by Teddybear99

One of my favourite quotes along with 'No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent' Eleanor Roosevelt.

Love that quote!

[all_night]

I can do most sums correctly if i write them down and do it, i struggle if trying to do it in my head. I only have a D in GCSE Maths though.

[avon942]

Originally Posted by all_night

I can do most sums correctly if i write them down and do it, i struggle if trying to do it in my head. I only have a D in GCSE Maths though.

I have a c in GCSE math but occasionally I still have to use my fingers.

[rehtorbgib]

Originally Posted by geraldbean

You don't have to be terribly good at maths to know how to calculate that. That's so basic . Most people have difficulty with division and multiplication but subtraction and definitely addition is the easiest for those with difficulties with maths. I hope she was saying it.

I think Ashleigh does really like Luke S but she thinks he's too good for her. It's him playing the game, not her. She only said she didn't have anything in common with him before because she's insecure in herself and thinks she is not god enough. Quite sad really.

I'm surprised they were having difficulty adding while doing the shopping list too when they had a chalk and board! Is Maths really lagging in this country?

Ashleigh is playing her own game, though I agree that Luke S is playing the bigger one. She may be insecure in her relationship with Calender Boy, but if Caroline's comments are to be believed, she is certain of her own place in the final so not exactly lacking in confidence in other aspects.

It's sad that a young girl who openly questions her compatibility with someone, would still let him get so intimate with her .... especially on national tv. She needs to get a grip!

[zanecoot]

Originally Posted by Esspiti

649 right?

Well yes of course. Takes a couple of seconds to do in one's head under 'normal' circumstances but even watching Becky's antics during the calculation was stressful, so being subjected to them would have been very distracting.

[minkski]

I think that I would have shouted at Becky I don't shout very often

Sometimes teaching is more effective when thinking outside of the box: it's a shame that the race for points/rankings takes the children being taught out of the equation. Some special needs children were being taught basic numeracy skills in my office last week and it was a joy to see how engaged they were with the learning process.

[zanecoot]

Originally Posted by Swinetown

I have a quote on my profile that is very apt for this discussion.

"Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid" A Einstien.

Unless it is a Mudskipper, of course. Then a tree-climbing rating may be appropriate

[zanecoot]

Originally Posted by Swinetown

I have a quote on my profile that is very apt for this discussion.

"Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid" A Einstien.

Come to think of it, the extent to which even the cleverest of fish subject themselves to this sort of evaluation is unclear, so it will probably be blissfully ignorant of its shortcomings in tree climbing

[B L Zeebub]

Originally Posted by wonkeydonkey

Poor Essex. Amy Childs one year, Ashleigh the next. As if the image of Essex girls was not bad enough already.

I have two sons and two daughters, who have lived, and been schooled, in Essex. One son and one daughter are excellent at maths, the other two are above average. They have had some pretty useless teachers and my eldest daughter had to have a tutor, as she was so worried that it would affect her chances. I have no doubt that similar problems are happening country-wide, though.

My sons have never been worried about growing up in Essex, but both daughters, separately, have bemoaned the fact that we chose to live here. I'm sure they'll survive it, but the Essex Girl stigma is not helpful, to say the least.

[trollface]

It should be fairly easy to do in your head, as you only have to do one thing which is more complicated than adding together 2 numbers.

You start off with the units: 5 + 4 = 9.

Then you do the tens: 8 + 6 = 14.

As it's a two-figure number, add the 1 from the 14 to one of the hundreds: 2 + 1 = 3.

Add the hundreds together: 3 + 3 = 6.

You have 6 hundreds, 4 tens and 9 units, meaning the answer is 649.

I think people get daunted by things like this, but this kind of thing really is a case of not seeing it as one large piece of addition, but rather a series of small pieces of addition.

You can even break it down further if need be. When I was first working it out I had a minor brain fart on what 8 + 6 was. So I did 6 + 6, because I knew off the top of my head that that is 12, and then added 2. Or, as it's addition, you could add 1 to one and subtract 1 from the other, leaving you with 7 + 7 (or, to put it another way, 7 * 2), which is more self-evidently 14.

I find these kinds of tricks very useful when it comes to doing mental arithmetic. Can't work out something multiplied by 5 off the top of your head? Multiply by 10 and then halve it.

Don't know 7 * 8 off the top of your head, but know the squares? Take 49 (7 * 7) and add 7. Find that hard? Adding something to 9 means subtracting 1 from the thing you're adding and using that as the new unit, and adding 1 to the tens. So 49 + 7 = 56.

Need to know 11 * 11, but have no idea where to start? Start with 10 * 10 = 100. Add 10, giving you 11 * 10 = 110. Add 11, giving you 11 * 11 = 121. If you need 12 * 12 you can carry on. 121 + 11 = 12 * 11 = 132. 132 + 12 = 12 * 12 = 144.

There's all sorts of ways to make mental arithmetic easier than it first seems, if you just think about what it is that you're trying to work out, rather than seeing it as one immutable problem to be solved.

Mind you, all that said, I used to have a friend who had a PhD in maths, and she couldn't do mental arithmetic at all. And she grew up before calculators were commonplace, so she was just genuinely bad at it. And I'm crap at division, unless a rough answer will do.

[B L Zeebub]

I have a cousin who failed miserably at school, but play darts with him and he's a mental arithmetic genius!

[clarence12]

As others have said, Id struggle with that wailing monster in my face.

Though I am supposed to be good at maths

[B L Zeebub]

I would have be tempted to subtract some of her fingers, when she was stabbing the blackboard and ranting.

[slappers r us]

I have dyscalculia and even I could work it out

[zanecoot]

Originally Posted by trollface

It should be fairly easy to do in your head, as you only have to do one thing which is more complicated than adding together 2 numbers.

You start off with the units: 5 + 4 = 9.

Then you do the tens: 8 + 6 = 14.

As it's a two-figure number, add the 1 from the 14 to one of the hundreds: 2 + 1 = 3.

Add the hundreds together: 3 + 3 = 6.

My way, went: 200 plus 300 is 500; 80 plus 60 is 140; add them to give 640; add the 4 and 5 to make 649. It takes longer to describe than to do in one's head. Must be lots of different ways, it is just a matter of finding the one that suits you best.

[trollface]

Originally Posted by zanecoot

My way, went: 200 plus 300 is 500; 80 plus 60 is 140; add them to give 640; add the 4 and 5 to make 649. It takes longer to describe than to do in one's head. Must be lots of different ways, it is just a matter of finding the one that suits you best.

It's the same way, except you work from the hundreds down to the units, rather than from the units up to the hundreds.