This will help to assure that students do not develop a narrow view of the concept. The storage and distribution of manipulatives is an important consideration for the classroom teacher and many excellent suggestions can be found in various teacher resources. Mental Calculation Mental calculation is a life skill that assists in solving many mathematically related problems. For elementary students, developing the ability to calculate mentally helps with understanding basic number concepts and relationships. It improves students ' paper and pencil calculations and eliminates many common errors produced on electronic calculators.
Mental calculation is also the cornerstone to all estimation.
This mental ability develops the confidence that assures students that they have the skills to quickly solve basic mathematical problems. Students involved in repetitive paper and pencil exercises often become accustomed to following with minimum thought, pre-determined steps. Mental calculation forces students to think about numbers and number relationships. Estimation Mathematics is a discipline that we often characterize by its precision in common usage. However, we do not always need, nor are we sometimes able, to attain a high degree of accuracy in our calculations.