How to learn the times tables?

[rainbowmum]

None of my kids know their tables..... I think it would be beneficial for them to know them as it makes mental math so much easier.
How have your kids learned them?
What tools have you found useful? We have a cd but it plays the same tune and is a bit boring....
Do you have any fun ideas on how to learn them?
What would work best with older kids/younger kids?
Thanks guys xx

[elizawill]

my kids are too little for this yet, so i don't have lots of ideas to offer. but i did remember seeing something i thought looked really fun when i visited thetoymaker.com. here's the link, & you need to scroll down to "the multi-pies". hth! it's free!

http://www.thetoymaker.com/Otter/Ott...nieforest.html

[lakesuperiormom]

use bean bags and the rhymes for the time tables and good ole memorization skills.

[zeldamomma]

My oldest can't take the time pressure, but I'm told lots of kids like to play timezattack: http://www.bigbrainz.com/index.php?PARTNER=krimsten

There's a free version and a premium version. I think the free version is good.

ZM

[smurphygt]

My 10 year old has short-term memory issues, so he needs frequent practice of his math facts. We've tried several different products and methods, but I like our homemade flash cards the best. They're cheap, easy to make and portable.

I've read it's important to have the fact on one side and the answer on the other. I also wrote each set in different colored crayons to help keep them separate. My son goes through a set of facts by himself, and the ones he can't remember or answer correctly go to the back of the set to be tried again. Once he answers them all correctly, he can move on to the next set of facts. It usually takes him about 5 minutes to go through half the sets.

Other things we've tried are math wrap-ups, Skip Count Kids, Times Tables the Fun Way, Quarter Mile Math and Times Attack. The last 2 are computer programs. I really like the Quarter Mile math for drill, but it doesn't work on our new computer.

Oh, I almost forgot.... Math U See has an online drill page that we used to use A LOT. I like that one, but it's timed and my son would shut down.

http://www.mathusee.com/drill.html

[Arduinna]

Well we listened to the schoolhouse rock tapes for that Because they are so fun, and were nostalgic for me personally.

[ABand3]

My oldest is in the midst of learning them, following singapore math's method of doing one, or a few numbers at a time. So, first is mastery of the easy ones - one, two, five, ten; then 3 and 4; we're getting ready to tackle 6, 7, 8 ,9.

We've done a 'memory' type game than seemed to help - I made index cards, blank on one side, problems and answers separately on the other. He liked that and it seemed to stick. We also emphasized doubling, so if you know the twos, and can double, then you know the fours and eights; if you know the threes, you can figure the sixes. Also, skip counting was helpful, although the cd's we've listened to are terrible.

[lakesuperiormom]

Originally Posted by elizawill

my kids are too little for this yet, so i don't have lots of ideas to offer. but i did remember seeing something i thought looked really fun when i visited thetoymaker.com. here's the link, & you need to scroll down to "the multi-pies". hth! it's free!

http://www.thetoymaker.com/Otter/Ott...nieforest.html

elizawill you totally rock and kept my morning busy with 4 little sick ones!! those are awesome! i printed the multi-pies out,laminated them, and plan to use them with colored gems to cover the answers! how great! i emailed and asked her for more math toys! she said she would work on it! hurrah! all of the other paper toys rock as well! mamas check this site out! thanks elizawill!

[elizawill]

we love her toys too! they are the BEST on rainy and cold days!!!

[Sisyphus]

If you have a right brain learner, this might help. My ds is starting this soon and I think he'll love it!

http://robinsunne.com/robinsunnes_multiplication_clock

[Aubergine68]

When dd was learning the times tables, we made a giant array on a grid on paper and hung it on the wall of our kitchen. We wrote 0-12 on each axis. Dd had to fill in the array, so she could find 4 on one axis and 9 on the other axis and follow them together to find the answer 4 times 9 equals 36.

(Does this make sense? I'm afraid I don't have a picture.)

She did the array in pencil, and we checked the work, and then she filled the array in in pen.

We had that up on the wall for ages....used made-up songs to help memorize the individual tables, but until she was sure, she'd sometimes still check the grid.

[Stugroupie]

Check out Times Tales.

[Lillian J]

If you go to my math page, Go Figure!, and scroll down underneath the articles to the "m"s (looking for "multiplication"), you'll find a number of web pages that have what may be fun games, tips, and ideas for them.

And a lot of people have learned from the Multiplication Rock CD from SchoolHouse Rock.

Lillian

[2 in August]

Try the Rock and Learn videos. My dd is only 6 but she picked out the division dvd at the library the other day. She didn't really love the songs, but it got her thinking about the patterns of multiplying and dividing.

[Peppermint]

Hooray! My library has the School House Rock videos! Thanks for the recommendation, I can't wait to try them

[zealsmom]

I think more important than learning "times tables" is that children develop a strong understanding of patterns. Once they understand the patterns that numbers make, they will more easily understand what 3x8 etc. means. Then, the actual times tables will be easier to commit to memory.
Start by doing skip counting and activities with a hundreds chart. Also, to make it more concrete and less abstract, you might try to just be gathering things that come in groups. Chart them even.
2 knees and 3 people = 6 knees
3 corners on a triangle and 3 triangles= 9 corners
and on and on...
7 days in a week, 3 weeks = 21 days
12 eggs in a carton and 2 cartons = 24 eggs

Also, games like yahtzee are great for understanding and practicing multiplication!

[cottonwood]

This doesn't exactly answer the OP, but for us it was important to develop an intuitive approach to math learning, i.e. not doing rote memorization. I know it's attractive to want to make it easier by just memorizing, but in my mind if you don't have a base of intuitive understanding, you're going to be restricted in your thinking of math to what you can memorize. For me, this was a real hindrance in higher math.

So instead of memorizing, we do lots of real world math, and play a lot of math games. The thing is, you eventually do begin to remember patterns that way (so, for instance, my older kids know their times tables even thought we've never sat down to learn them) but the difference is that the brain has been wired to get to that point in a more potentially useful way than simple memorization.