‘Human calculator’, 29, who rose to fame aged 14 reveals her surprising tip to make your child a ‘maths genius’ – and it goes against everything you’ve been told

• Tatiana Devendranath is known as the human calculator 
•  She rose to fame as a 14-year-old ‘math genius’

A former World Maths Day champion has revealed exactly what it takes to raise a child genius – and the advice goes against what many parents are told to do.

Tatiana Devendranath doesn’t come from a family of mathematicians, but claimed the title year after year, until finally being dubbed ‘the human calculator’.

The 29-year-old said giving kids more screen time can help them build skills in math and science.

She told FEMAIL she used to play a lot of video games, up to eight hours on weekend days, with her family and on her own.

‘I was allowed to play video games whenever I wanted, from when I was a three-years-old,’ she said.

‘The human calculator’ Tatiana Devendranath is the reigning World Math Day champion – after answering a record smashing 105 questions in 60 seconds when she was 14

Pictured in Maths genius days – the young woman is now an ambassador for the online event 

Educational games formed part of that as did quest-style games which relied on reading dialogue and working things out.

‘I learned to read by playing these games,’ she said.

When she found Mathletics it opened her up the a world of numbers that she was free to explore at her own pace.

‘Soon that was all I was playing,’ she said.

She admits the score board feature appealed to her competitive side – and she also played the spelling bee version of the game too.

Before she knew it she was the game’s reigning champion.

‘Being described as a human calculator was pretty embarrassing but mum was proud, as you can imagine,’ she said. 

In fact her record of answering 105 questions in 60 seconds is still the record, she smiled.

She says the key to raising a child genius is ‘more screen time’

She is pitured here collecting her academic award

‘Kids who want to do well need to practice with the app – practice accuracy because at first that’s more important than speed,’ she said.

The current format gives kids around the world the opportunity to watch their peers move up and down the scoreboard over 48 hours.

‘I used to wait until the very end, play it strategically, so I knew how many points I needed to win,’ she said.

The Melbourne-based ‘nerd’ works in data and analytics, telling stories with numbers – which fuels her humanities loving side as well. 

She says she is a huge supporter in ‘age appropriate screen time’.

‘Even Minecraft can be educational,’ she said.

Teachers and schools, register your school now for World Maths Day at worldmathsday.com  

Before winning World Math Day in 2008 she was the five time Australian champion. 

How can I get involved with World Maths Day? 

• From February 8, teachers and educators are invited to register their school to take part in the biggest online global maths event that is world Maths Day.

• How to register: Log onto www.worldmathsday.com

• What day is World Maths Day: Wednesday 8 March 2023 (spread across 48 hours to take in world time differences)

• What is World Maths Day: WMD is an international celebration of mathematics hosted by 3P Learning, creators of online mathematics program Mathletics. It’s free, all-inclusive and open to all schools.

• How many: 10,00 schools – over 1 million students in 150 countries

• K-12 can participate

• World Maths Day allows students to test their skills and compete against their peers from around the world in 20 live one-minute maths challenges.

• The goal is simple, get as many questions correct as you can within one minute and be crowned the winning mathlete while also participating in fun activities that highlight the world of numbers

Source: Read Full Article