It is still absolutely important for children to commit the multiplication facts to memory. Unfortunately, less and less children seem to be memorizing their multiplication facts. Why? Daunting curriculum prevents teachers from spending much time on them, all too busy working parents takes away from evening help and children are quite busy with extra curricular activities and digital devices.
What can you do?
- Time needs to be set aside.
- Try the learn the timestables in 21 days strategy.
- Use the 1 minute timestables tests.
- Try a gamey approach, with a deck of cards play snap: turn over two cards and provide the answer of the two numbers multiplied together.
- Try some of the multiplication tricks.
See more multiplication resources.
Comments
What we want is automaticity and connections, not just rote memorization.
1) Emphasize meaning of multiplication
2) Use with other (non-symbolic) representations. Groups, arrays, dot rectangles.
3) Learn facts in related families. Doubles, x5, 9s, squares, etc.
4) Learn to extend from known to new. Don’t know 7×6? Relate to 6×6 or 7×3. (Only possible with (1) above.)
5) Practice in a context. Arrays occur naturally all over.
Rote momorization shall never be thought as the only method especially we want kid to apply their knowledge to solving word prolems but on the other hand rote memorization shall never be down played if we want kids to learn timestables in 2 weeks. Both of my own children learned timestables in two weeks and that was it.
But can everyone learn timestables in two weeks? Of course not, in my tutoring career I see many kids still struggle with timestables at grade 10 and they never want to go back to relearn timestables but rely on calculators. Without timetables in their head, they lose number senses and do math work in slow mention and their reaction for solving math prolems is slow.
I totally agree with both John Golden and Frank Ho. I have seen all too many students at any age level who say that they are not good at math because they ‘don’t understand’ what they are doing!
If you do not memorize you will not be fast enough at higher levels of math. Knowing the multiplication tables in your head makes estimating and checking your work at the story problems alot easier. Kids gain confidence and “understand” something when they know it! Have the kids train each other!
Yes, I think memorization of times tables is important, but kids need to understand what the concept of mutliplication is first, as John says, through a variety of non-symbolic representations such as groups and arrays and real-world contexts. Visual representations of multiplication is so important; it helps kids to memorize! If you don’t know 7 x 6, but know 6×6 and can visualize 6 groups of 6, then you can understand that you just add 1 more group of 6. By doing this, when it’s time to memorize, the understanding and logic is already there.
I’ve had kids come into my class ‘knowing their times tables,’ but they didn’t always have a good sense of math or how to problem solve. Memorizing is one thing and I agree is important, but not before building understanding of what it is and means!
PS, my kids do practise with each other in lots of game situations – and have to memorize the tables in the end (using the same strategies as John described).