Here are our next sets of mental arithmetic questions for years 4, 5 and 6. Each set has ten questions and we publish two per week for each year. The year 4 questions concentrate on money and measurement and there are also a couple of negative number problems. Some children do find difficulties with negative numbers and at this age they should be shown in a real life situation - usually temperature. The negative number questions get harder in year 5 and careful listening skills are needed to answer some of the questions involving large numbers. In contrast, the year 6 questions  this week concentrate on doubling, halving, multiplication and division. By year 6 children are expected to be able to double any 2-digit number 'in their heads'. Two of the harder questions  are to do with multiplying tenths by twenty (eg 0.6 times 20). It would be a good idea to ask children how they went about these. One of the easiest ways is to multiply by 10 (0.6 x 10 = 6) and then double (6 doubled is 12). Watch out for the common error in thinking when multiplying by ten that 0.6 x 10 is 0.60!! Go to Year 4 mental arithmetic Go to Year 5 mental arithmetic Go to Year 6 mental arithmetic