Vedic Math vs. Traditional Math: Which Is Better for Your Child?

With the rising popularity of Vedic Maths classes today, one of the most common questions parents have today is ‘Vedic Math vs. Traditional Math – Which Is Better’ , and rightly so.

As a chief trainer of Mathcruise (Maths education provider for key courses like Abacus classes online, Vedic Maths classes as well as Olympiad classes) I get an opportunity to express my views on various platforms and I am glad that many parents feel they can make an informed decision after having these inputs. But before we do a deep dive into this specific question, it is important to understand some Basic aspects surrounding Vedic Maths vs Traditional Maths (such as below) so we can relate better to the overall discussion.

What is Vedic Maths in simple words

You will find many definitions of Vedic Maths floating around on the internet, and every specialist would give a slightly different version. However we simply define Vedic Maths as a collection of multiple shortcut tricks to solve Maths questions in a superfast and fun-filled way. These tricks are based on ancient Indian Vedas and were developed by Sri Bharthi Krishna Tirthraj.

How is Vedic Maths helpful to students?

Vedic Maths offers a huge list of benefits and this can be a topic for a separate blog if we cover all the known benefits in detail. However, here we will talk about 3-4 top benefits to students, just to give you some insight into the greatness of Vedic Maths.:

• Superfast Speed – At least 5x faster speed than traditional Maths. Many people do not believe this, so its best to solve a few Vedic Maths tricks yourself. Follow the below simple steps:

              • Trick – Square any number ending in 5

                Let us find out the square of any number ending in 5, e.g. 35

               • Step 1– Multiple the tens digit (3) by its successor number which is 4, which equals to 12

               • Step 2– Append 25 to the result

               • So the answer becomes 12 25

Now that you know how simple it is to find a square of any number ending with 5, try the second question yourself

                Another question: Let us find out the square of 85

              • Step 1 – Multiple the tens digit (8) by its successor number which is 9, which equals to 72

              • Step 2 – Append 25 to the result

               • So the answer becomes 72 25

               To practice a little more, find out the square of 75

                • Conclusion for speed

For this Vedic Math trick , anyone (even a small kid of 6 years) can find the answer in just 2-3 seconds. If you do the same question using traditional Maths, you will find that the time taken is 20-30 seconds. Would you agree? Try out yourself!

• Fun Filled way of learning Maths – the tricks are so interesting that kids enjoy it like a game and a puzzle. You can only experience it when you try a couple of simple tricks yourself.
• Remove fear of Maths – We teach Vedic Maths via fun filled learning techniques which engages students in a positive way and ensures their active participation. Every Vedic Math class is highly interactive where students are not just listening to the lecture but doing practical all the time. They are curious to solve more and more questions using simple Vedic Maths tricks since they really enjoy the spirit of these classes, which is based on fun and interaction, instead of theory based lectures. This unique approach of interactive learning removes any fear of Maths they may have in their mind, and on the contrary students start loving Maths.
• Gives edge to students over their peers – A child who has been attending Vedic Maths classes has an ability to solve arithmetic questions much faster (5x times) than others, and this gives him a unique edge over his competitors. Just to give a tangible example, students who have completed their Vedic Maths training can easily save 15-20 minutes in calculations in a 3 hour exam. They can use those 20 minutes either to do revision and identify mistakes, or spend additional time on complex questions. In competitive exams, every second matters, so just imagine how much more edge your child will have over his peers.
• Remove dependency on calculators – If a child learns and masters even the basic shortcut trick for arithmetic questions and some commonly used operations like square and square roots, cube and cube roots, he will not be dependent on digital calculators any more. There are many exams where calculators are not allowed, so imagine the crucial time he will save in those exams. Isn’t this a great benefit?
• Brain development and Boost in Confidence – Post the completion of Vedic Maths training, a child performs most of the arithmetic and basic operations mentally (without even using a paper or a pen). This is great for brain development since for every question, he needs to identify the pattern of the question and then apply the best possible trick. Pattern identification abilities lead to strong logical thinking, which further boosts confidence. And confidence is the key to success in all spheres of life.

Is Vedic Maths new?

No. The ‘Vedic’ word itself means ancient Indian scriptures and it has been existing since a very long time.

Vedic Maths has been existing since ages. In fact it has existed since the early 20th century. It is just that we have forgotten our roots and kept moving towards modern ways of Maths as we evolved. Today thanks to the efforts and passion of some Math lovers, Vedic Maths is gaining its charm back and the great work that Swami Bharti Krishna Tirthaji Maharaj did to formalize the Vedic Maths course is gaining more and more popularity. Thanks to the amazing power of the internet, Online Vedic Maths classes are becoming a craze in the student community, and it is wonderful to see the love for Vedic Maths booming throughout the world.

Is there any precondition to enroll into Vedic Maths Course?

Yes, at Mathcruise we strongly recommend to conduct a short assessment of the child before enrolling into the Vedic Maths course. Here is why it is important:

• Many times students (and even parents) do not understand what Vedic Maths really is. They may have different expectations, which is why it is important to explain this to them so that they are not surprised later.
• We strongly recommend the age of the child to be over 11 years. Reason being that by this age students have typically covered the foundation of basic concepts like arithmetic operations  (addition, subtraction, division and multiplication) and some basic algebra concepts like squares and cubes.
  • This greatly helps the kids to appreciate the simplicity of Vedic Maths tricks, as compared to traditional Maths. Remember the Vedic Math method to find squares of numbers ending with 5, that we saw at the beginning of this article. Children just love it because it is way simpler than traditional Maths.
  • At 11 yrs of age (or higher) the child can easily compare the time he has to spend in Traditional Maths vs Vedic Maths for the same question. When he sees for himself that Vedic Maths can help him solve the questions 5x faster, he gets highly motivated to learn more.
  • On the other hand, a child below 11 years usually does not understand these concepts and there are high chances that he will get bored while trying to learn Vedic Maths. So it is better to wait and enroll them into other equally good courses like Abacus classes, or even Olympiad preparation.

How is Vedic Maths different from Traditional School Maths?

Vedic Maths	School Maths
Vedic Maths relies more on speed by making use of shortcut tricks, which makes it interesting for kids	School Maths relies more on a structured approach. Sometimes kids tend to get bored since it sounds heavy to them
Vedic Maths teaches kids to solve problems mentally and in much fewer steps	Kids will always need a notebook and a pen, since many detailed steps are involved even for simple operations like mathematics or division

Where do I get the Best Online Vedic Maths Classes?

Today there are many academies providing online vedic maths classes, so it’s not so difficult to find a Vedic Maths teacher. However at Mathcruise we take pride in the fact that our chief trainer has a passion for Maths and her goal is to remove fear of maths from the minds of children. We believe you should learn Vedic Maths classes online @Mathcruise for the following reasons, which is our specialization:

• Our chief trainer holds international certification in advance Vedic Maths from vedicmaths.org which has the best gurus Sir James Glover and Sir Ken Williams. Our chief trainer is listed as certified tutor @https://vedicmaths.org/community/tutors. There are only 100 such Vedic Maths tutors in the world. Yes, its true.
• We offer a money back guarantee if you are not happy with the results. The only condition is that the child must attend regular classes and complete his homework.
• Copyright books under relevant Trademark (TM) classes 16, 35 and 41 as per the Indian Law. Our trainers have spent years in defining the professional curriculum which is easily understandable by kids.
• We take pride in the fact that we have earned Trust from parents, and proudly display the Google reviews from both existing and past parents on our website. Instead of trusting our words, we recommend you to hear from the mouths of fellow parents and then decide where to enroll for best online Vedic Maths classes.

Takeaway

We must admit that as mankind evolved, we thought that we were inventing advanced ways of learning Maths (in the form of traditional Maths), but unfortunately no one realizes that in reality we have become more and more dependent on calculators. Isn’t it true that today kids cannot solve even the basic questions without a calculator, which is a sad state of affairs. While it’s okay to use calculators, just imagine the kind of confidence a kid will have if he is able to perform all those calculations himself mentally; without even a paper or a pen. Confidence will ensure that there is no fear in his mind ofr Maths and when kids learn something without any fear and in a highly interactive mode, they give their best output.

To conclude, we recommend that you should not compare School Math with Vedic Maths.

Vedic Maths should be considered as a supplementary course, not to replace school Maths. Most parents will not be comfortable to leave school maths altogether, and go against the norms set by society. It’s too risky. A much safer approach is to continue with traditional school math as the main focus. But at the right age (11+ years) enroll your kid into Vedic Math classes so that he can get the best of both worlds. Once he masters some basic to medium complex tricks of Vedic Maths, you will see the boost he gets in arithmetic speed and accuracy, overall confidence and mental abilities to grasp things. You will be amazed!

Read here for more related insights on this topic – Still Confused?

Also refer our interesting blog ‘The Benefits of Vedic Maths for Competitive Exams and Tests’

And do not miss out on the great gift of Vedic Maths to the world from ancient India and start sailing in the Vedic Maths ocean today, you will love this amazing journey.