In past times, and still in many parts of the world, most children would learn by rote. This involved starting each lesson by reciting all the tables from x1 to x12. Many parents were taught this way and are still able to remember them easily.

 

There has been a lot of discussion as to whether this method led to ‘understanding’ rather than just chanting.

 

Whatever your view few people doubt the benefit of learning multiplication – whether to improve estimation skill or to use as a springboard to more complex maths.

 

So – how can you help your child to effectively learn? There are three basic methods:

 

 

Encourage your child to recite the times tables on the school run each morning / afternoon. Ask them at odd times throughout the day, including weekends. Look for opportunities to reinforce - such as answering “can I have an ice-cream?” with “if you tell me your 8x times table.” Ask your child to write out the 6x table after dinner to get out of washing up. (I’ll do that anytime!). View some of the amazing facts on this site for number multiplication. Try them out without using a calculator.

 

Make it fun without being overbearing. Perhaps encourage your child to create a rap? Don’t forget to send your video – it might be featured on the site.

 

 

There’s an excellent product called Maths Wrap that encourages children to learn their times tables. Studies have shown that ‘kinesthetic’ teaching, learning by doing, can have a significant impact on remembering facts. Maths Wrap has been endorsed by teachers and bought by schools. A recent study claimed to double a child’s ability over a 5 week period. It’s all good stuff and I’m delighted because I developed it! Full details in the shop or www.mathswrap.co.uk.

 

Either way lots of children respond by something they can learn and play with. There’s an amazing range of other products from snap cards to cube books. Many might be, possibly,  nearly as good as Maths Wrap.

 

 

This one is a little controversial but bear with me. One of the criticisms of learning by rote is that there is no understanding. It’s important that children appreciate the relationships between numbers rather than just reciting them.

 

Much of primary maths is “derived” ie. building on what you know. There's also been quite a bit of effort to encourage children to learn "halving and doubling." So why not just learn the key times table facts rather than the whole lot? When you’re then asked a question you can then use these to answer.

 

The key facts are

 

8 x 7=56

4 x 9 = 36

11 x 12 = 132

7 x 9 = 63

6 x 7 = 42

12 x 8 = 96

4 x 7 = 28

6 x 8 = 48

9 x 12 = 108

8 x 9 = 72

11 x 11 = 121

6 x 9 = 54

 

I’ve mixed them up a bit as it might be better for the child to learn out of order. Just learn these off by heart and use them to work out any other tables.

 

Whatever you do learning multiplication should be fun. A good approach would be to use a mix of the three methods. It’s a fundamental skill that will be useful throughout school and life. Try not to let it take over though!

 

Finally there is a way to use your hands to work out from 6x6 to 10x10 tables. It’s quite good fun and works. Click here to find out more.

 

PS. Rapping is a favourite with early year teachers – and with the children. An example of x3 rap would be:

We're 'gonna' do some tables and they can be fun,
This is how our 'Tables Rap' is begun.
We're gonna rap times tables and the beat is free,
And the table we're rappin' is numbers times three!
For zero x3 we thought and thought (tap head look like you're thinking hard), and hey (point at audience) we found it comes to nought!
Then 1x3 so we climbed a tree (tree climbing actions), when we got the top we found a three.
2x3 just count the kicks, (do six kicks)
2x3 is 1,2,3,4,5,6. 3x3 is our next line (use hands draw imaginary line in front of you),
3x3 hey kids (point) it's 9! 4x3 here's our cool girls (boys point at the girls)
4x3 we got 12.
5x3 Where have you been (shade eyes look around), we've been looking for 15,
6x3 we're a real mean team (arms on each other's shoulders look angry), 6x3 it's 18.
7x3 ate a hot cross bun (mime eating a bun), then had to have another 21.
8x3 hey open that door (pretend to open a door), 8x3 is 24.
9x3 we're all 'gonna' heaven (smile, put hands together like praying), 'cos that's where we'll find 27.
Now 10x3 we're down and dirty (crouch down look scruffy), 10x3 shout out 30.
Now we're done with our cool rap I think we deserve a real loud clap! (clapping with the rhythm).