What is the fastest way to thoroughly learn times tables for a 3rd grader?

[Anonymous]

I'm coming to the realization that my son did not learn his time tables as well as he should have, even though he's been doing the study methods required by the teacher (Everyday Math, so games and some math facts practice). I need to help him learn them solidly. He's beginning to fall behind. I learned just by rote memorization of a one-pager with the facts on it. Is that the best way? Or any other recommendations? TIA

[Anonymous]

What makes you think he's behind? Is he supposed to be learning his times tables, according to the teacher? Does the teacher recommend this rote method?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What makes you think he's behind? Is he supposed to be learning his times tables, according to the teacher? Does the teacher recommend this rote method?

He's moved on to problems that require fluency in times tables, but he's not fluent. So he gets really messed up trying to solve more complex word problems.

No, what the teacher has recommended hasn't worked. I'm looking for something that would work better than math games like Top It.

[Anonymous]

DD had trouble with multiplication facts and her 4th grade teacher taught them a bunch of songs. This is a weakness for her and she is fairly proficient now. I'll ask her in the AM exactly which ones they are.

[Anonymous]

Pennies, jelly beans, buttons, jolly ranchers, anything that you can sort in piles.
3 friends each get 5 jolly ranchers, how many total?
Make sure he has the concept before doing the straight up memorizing. If it means something it will sink in faster.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I disagree about this. My son is learning times tables, and my husband thinks he needs to go through the "concept" with every problem. I think that DS gets the concept, and the best thing to do is just memorize at this point for faster recall. Does your school use a program like tenmarks? If you guys keep practicing problems with him, eventually he'll memorize them.

[Anonymous]

I'm all for memorizing and practicing during dinner time if you have to.
"Concept"? They get the concept, time to memorize them so they can move on and get the concept of bigger things.

[Anonymous]

We have a 3rd grader as well, and in the beginning of the school year, just went through lots and lots of charts for him to fill out over and over again. It really was all about memorizing and repetition that worked for him at this point. We supplemented by using a Kumon workbook.

[Anonymous]

I put times tables on the back of my seat in the car so DD would be a captive audience when we were driving.

She's now really good at math at age 11.

[Anonymous]

I wrote down about 50 multiplication problems from 3 to 12 and ds solved as many as he could in 4 minutes with a timer every night after dinner, then we looked at what was left unsolved or wrong and discussed why. It only took 5 minutes every night. It took about a week for him to go from solving about half in 4 minutes to solving all. We haven't done it now for about a month because he was solving everything 100% for a while but I am going to bring out the sheet again this week to make sure he still remembers.

[Anonymous]

A little each day on a practice sheet, every morning when he gets up. No more than 10 minutes. Then practice in the car or other places along the way in the day. Just here and there. It is one of the those that will add up. The tortoise wins this race for many kids, not the hare.

[Anonymous]

Try Times Tales. Figure out which ones he doesn't already know and concentrate on those. Make sure he understands that 7x8=8x7 etc

[Anonymous]

If your kid is game, any wrote memorizing tool will work.

Speed counting by multiples. Memorize, then use fingers to count off the one you need.

Flash cards.

Yes, you are right that without fluency here the next material will be impossible. Do make sure it isn't a content issue, though.

[Anonymous]

Flash cards

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I disagree about this. My son is learning times tables, and my husband thinks he needs to go through the "concept" with every problem. I think that DS gets the concept, and the best thing to do is just memorize at this point for faster recall. Does your school use a program like tenmarks? If you guys keep practicing problems with him, eventually he'll memorize them.

I think it's good to do a few problems at the beginning to make sure your son understands the concept, but he has likely been working on the concept for two years now and is ready to memorize. (Make sure that he is fluent with repeated addition before you memorize facts, though-- this is another thing he should have been working on since first grade, so he should be, but it's good to make sure before moving on.)

I love the Kumon books for memorization of facts. One or two pages a day. But they're no magic-- the magic is setting aside a specified time or number of problems for practice every day. There are also tons of free games and apps if your son finds that more enjoyable. Or old fashioned flashcards do the trick. But I highly recommend just saying he has to practice for 5 or 10 minutes a day and setting a timer and sticking to it even if he seems to be enjoying it or willing to go further. This is a great way to learn or practice anything new!