# Mental Math Guide
[Trainer](https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/1cecd113-37e8-4f02-b654-bc8bea523386)
## Daily session template (~40 min 6 days/week)
| Block | Time | What |
| ------------------ | ------ | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Primitives flash | 5 min | Squares, cubes, fraction→decimal cards (spaced repetition) |
| Technique focus | 10 min | The week's target mode, untimed → moderate pace |
| Speed sprints | 12 min | 3–4 × 60-second sprints on the target operation; log your best |
| Benchmark set | 8 min | Timed mixed set at your current phase level |
| Error review + log | 5 min | Re-do every miss slowly; write down the pattern |
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## Memorization core (master by end of Week 2, maintain forever)
These are primitives — instant recall, under ~2 seconds each. They prevent cognitive overload mid-calculation.
| Set | Range |
| ------------------ | -------------------------------------------- |
| Squares | 1–30 (push to 40 if you can) |
| Cubes | 1–15 |
| Fraction → decimal | 1/2 through 1/16, **plus 1/7 = 0.142857** |
| Powers of 2 | up to 2¹² (4096) |
| Fraction → percent | 1/8 = 12.5%, 1/16 = 6.25%, 3/8 = 37.5%, etc. |
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## Phase overview & graduation gates
| Phase | Weeks | Focus modes | Gate to advance |
| ----------------- | ----- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **1 — Mechanics** | 1–2 | Secrets of Mental Math (×11, 2×1, 2×2), Squaring, Fraction→Decimal | All primitives recalled <2s each · 2×2 multiplication >90% accurate untimed · 60s 2×1 sprint ≥ 20 |
| **2 — Fluency** | 3–5 | Core & Quant: 2×2 Addition, 3×3 Addition, Subtraction, Division (keep mult/fractions warm) | Each 3-min sub-type set (integer / decimal / fraction) ≥ 25 · accuracy on answered ≥ 92% |
| **3 — Endurance** | 6–8 | Quant Firm Mix / full 80-in-8, Guesstimation, + probability/EV | Two consecutive 80-in-8 sims at **net 70+** |