I could use some perspective from a 3rd grade teacher, please.

[Anonymous]

My DD it typically a good student, but not a straight A student. She is smart and we've never had any big concerns, but I'm a little worried now because she's about to finish 3rd grade and is still struggling a bit with single digit multiplication tables. Is this normal? She's our only child so we don't have much experience with this. It sounds as if she's supposed to know them cold by the end of the year. I know that kids are all different and I'm really not obsessed with how she stacks up against others. Mostly, I just don't want to fail to get her some extra help if she needs it.

TIA!

[Anonymous]

I taught 3rd and 4th grades. It's tough to learn, and some kids really struggle. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Try photocopying several pages of multiplication facts and time her for 1 minute. Then graph her progress on a line graph. Do it every day...it's only 1 minute but she will see her progress. Just try to get one more each day. For further practice, work on 2 or 3 facts at a time for a few days. Do them in the car, at dinner, etc. then add another one. There are apps and computer games online to try as well. For some kids it's just really hard! It might not sink in until middle school.

[Anonymous]

Flash cards work wonders.

Go to CVS or Walgreens. Pull out the ones she seems to get stuck on once she gets more of the others.

Also--have her write the tables--1-10. She will start to see the pattern.

Reflex math (web program our school uses) is also great for teaching them--and fun!

Disclaimer: I am not a teacher-but a third grade mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD it typically a good student, but not a straight A student. She is smart and we've never had any big concerns, but I'm a little worried now because she's about to finish 3rd grade and is still struggling a bit with single digit multiplication tables. Is this normal? She's our only child so we don't have much experience with this. It sounds as if she's supposed to know them cold by the end of the year. I know that kids are all different and I'm really not obsessed with how she stacks up against others. Mostly, I just don't want to fail to get her some extra help if she needs it.

TIA!

Hi op, I'm not a third grade teacher, but I'm the mom of a third grader who struggles with math. I am answering your post to let you know that if your daughter needs extra help, the teacher would probably let you know. At my childs school they do at least. They called me in for a meeting to explain that he needed some extra help and what they were doing to provide that. You could contact her teacher with your concerns and see what the teacher says, but it doesn't sound at all like your failing to get her the help she needs.

[Anonymous]

Try Xtra math - it was set up as a Seattle non-profit to help kids learn math facts that need to be learned by rote memory. My kids oversees school used it starting in kindergarten. It times the kids and they don't move on to each level until they've mastered it. It has them work on it maybe 10 minutes a day max. They start off with slower speeds, and as you master it, you can move up to faster speeds - as much 1 1/2 seconds per question. It has addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. I think you can skip straight to multiplication in the parent controlled section, although my DS went through all four. It was terrific and he didn't get overwhelmed b/c it won't let you do more than 2 practices a day I think. https://xtramath.org/

[Anonymous]

Multiplication tables are just straight memorization. They just are. You memorize it, and it is very useful throughout life. To this day, I am glad that multiplication tables were drilled into my head.

I struggle with math. I do not struggle with rote, straightforward memorization.

Most people can memorize things. She will get it eventually.

[Anonymous]

Different PP. How good are students supposed to be in writing by the end of 3rd grade?

[Anonymous]

My daughter took too long to tell me what five times eight is. I had her skip up and down the hallway reciting times tables. I took her out with her bike to a parking lot with numbered parking spots and called out multiplication tables and she rode her bike to the parking spot with the correct number.

If you combine physical movement with mental growth, the mental stuff comes more smoothly and sticks harder. We only did the bike thing two or three times because of how quickly it worked.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thank you all for this perspective. Now I have a question about motivation. I offered to do flash cards with her or drills or something else but she always resists saying she's tired or wants to do something else. Any tips for getting her motivated to try some of these things?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter took too long to tell me what five times eight is. I had her skip up and down the hallway reciting times tables. I took her out with her bike to a parking lot with numbered parking spots and called out multiplication tables and she rode her bike to the parking spot with the correct number.

If you combine physical movement with mental growth, the mental stuff comes more smoothly and sticks harder. We only did the bike thing two or three times because of how quickly it worked.

My kid plays math ball or something like that in school where they throw a ball and recite facts. They do this in Waldorf schools too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thank you all for this perspective. Now I have a question about motivation. I offered to do flash cards with her or drills or something else but she always resists saying she's tired or wants to do something else. Any tips for getting her motivated to try some of these things?

I'm the bike poster so it won't surprise you that my suggestion is to do something physical while doing it. Also, start with 0, 1, and 2 to build confidence. For those, you can use food to teach. Sitting and doing flash cards sounds like hell to me and I know my times tables down cold. Be more creative with your teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thank you all for this perspective. Now I have a question about motivation. I offered to do flash cards with her or drills or something else but she always resists saying she's tired or wants to do something else. Any tips for getting her motivated to try some of these things?

I couldn't get my dd motivated to do it with me, so I am taking her to Sylvan. She just started last week, and for her teacher there, she sat and did multiplication for an hour. That is well worth $55 per hour to me. We are going to continue over the summer, and hopefully she will get multiplication and division down. She really struggled with those. She did fine on the other math subjects like geometry, time, money, etc.

[Anonymous]

iPad multiplication games, to earn time to play other games

[Anonymous]

Try math bingo or rocket math ipad games if she is reluctant to do the worksheets. They at least make it sort of fun

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thank you all for this perspective. Now I have a question about motivation. I offered to do flash cards with her or drills or something else but she always resists saying she's tired or wants to do something else. Any tips for getting her motivated to try some of these things?

I'm the bike poster so it won't surprise you that my suggestion is to do something physical while doing it. Also, start with 0, 1, and 2 to build confidence. For those, you can use food to teach. Sitting and doing flash cards sounds like hell to me and I know my times tables down cold. Be more creative with your teaching.

Completely agree with this. We used to play catch and call out problems for each other.