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memorizing multiplication tables - what worked for your kid?
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Anonymous
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3rd grade is, in my opinion, really early to be too worried about this. Figuring out the math facts (skip counting, counting up and down from known facts, using partial products) are great ways for kids to really understand the meaning of multiplication and division. If we turn it into a memory task too early we're taking away those opportunities.
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Anonymous
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Yeah but by the end of 3rd grade they need it and by 4th grade they'll feel "dumb" if they can't do them. Learning to add fractions, for example, or to simplify 9/15 you need the math facts. I'm not saying this is right (I remember learning the 9s in 5th grade in the 70s and I turned out OK), but it's the way it is. If your kid memorizes things relatively easily (can see a word a few times and learn to spell it and then remember it later) then don't sweat it. But if your kid struggles with memorization, better get started.
We make a game of it. I make up games that involve her whole body, like leaping from paper to paper with the number string (from 4 to 8 to 12, etc.). Or we play a kind of math fact twister. We work on just 3 or 4 for days and days. I hate math facts. |
Anonymous
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I love math, did great in it all the way through school, work in a field where I use it regularly, and can certainly simplify and add fractions.
I still haven't memorized all my math "facts". If your school's culture makes children feel dumb, for any reason, I'd find a new school |
Anonymous
| In line with this, in my childrens' school along about 2nd grade they have to do "Mad minutes" in math - how many facts can you get right in a minute, starting w/ addition, then moving up the line. The particular teacher, while acknowledging each time that my kids were working significantly above grade level (and above anyone else in the class), always made it seem as though they were deficient because they could not do their facts "fast enough." While this attitude was annoying, the most important point we learned is not to confuse speed with ability. So to those parents who know their children are actually pretty good with math but may get messed up on these speed-memorization tasks, please know that speed is not the whole game. I'm not saying that (a) quick recall of facts isn't convenient and for some tasks important or (b) you should ignore the possibility of a learning deficiency, but if your sense is they really know and learn math well, let it go. |
Anonymous
| My third grader has been having problems with the 8s and should have a quicker recall of all (2-12) his teacher told us at our PT conference before Spring Break. She gave us sheets, divided by quarters, with the multiplication problems for each number - so a page with 4 sets of theall the 4s, a page with 4 sets of all the 5s, the 6s, and so on. I photocopied these sheets and cut them into single (quarter sized) sheets with the paper slicer. I mixed up the stack and for the past two weeks he has been doing four sheets a day of different numbers in the morning. I then verbally quiz him (especially on the ones he misses which tend to be the 8s) for no more than 5-10 minutes at night during dinner or bedtime prep (memory kicks in particularly well right before sleep). I have also pointed out that using 5 and 10 as "anchors" helps because you know those easily (like if 8x10=80, 8x9 is just 8 less). It is amazing how quickly he now recalls all the multiplication tables. That is what it took and I dont think it was overly onerous for him and certainly not for me. So, written practice in the morning, and verbal practice at night. No more than 10 minutes each and really closer to 5 each. |
Anonymous
| old-world eastern european teacher who was so strict that if you didn't come to class with a red pen you'd be asked to leave. that, and every friday, a 60-second quiz in which you had to complete 100 multiplication problems (everything up to 12*12). |
Anonymous
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For kids having difficulty memorizing some of the higher up times tables (8x7, etc.) take a look at this resource:
http://www.triggermemorysystem.com/Example.html This is for use once the child has the basic understanding of what "times" means but just is having trouble remembering some of the facts. The method uses images and a simple story as mnemonics. |
Anonymous
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Also www.citycreek.com
Little movies and stories that go along with the harder math facts -- "you need to be 16 to drive a four by four (4 x 4)" |
Anonymous
this is an excellent way to learn times tables works for every kid i have ever taught http://www.tlsbooks.com/fiveminutemathmultiplication0-12.pdf |
Anonymous
| KUMON |
Anonymous
| It just comes down to memorization - no two ways about it. Some good suggestions here already. We found a free flashcard app. and put it on the ipod. DD practiced in the car, waiting in line at the grocery, waiting for food at a restaurant, etc. |
Anonymous
| Try http://www.gamequarium.com/ - my DD loves the penguin game in particular for multpiplcation facts... |
Anonymous
| Flashmaster and lots of practice tests. |
Anonymous
| Flashmaster |
Anonymous
| Bribes worked well for me. I'd write down a test and time it. If he completed them all correctly in the allocated time, he got money. Nothing else worked (and I tried many more PC and "educationally correct" things), but this did. (However, one warning: he did cry the first few times, when he failed. But he was very happy once he succeeded. Just call me "Tiger Mom"). |