Times Table CD

[Deleted User]

My children are at the times table learning stage. Some they know instantly some they don't. They have been doing table games at school online and in the classroom and at home with me. His teacher set homework for half term to have a real push on instant recall for 2,5,10 tables. My son tries but then at times feels pressured and freezes, then gives up, yet at other times he knows the answer.

We've used the tables game on the school website, but i'm not convinced about it. You are asked a question and then given multiple choice answers, which in my mind makes it easier.

I learnt it parrot fashion through chanting them, as did my mum, we both feel that as DS is learning tables randomly he isnt learning the pattern to them. I have a poster on the wall from 0-12 and try to reinforce through that.

Someone suggested a CD playing in the car or at night time might help. Has anyone found this useful or could recommend something. I need to help him more without destroying his confidence or undermining current teaching.

Thanks.
PS about to search ebay and amazon.

marisco_2

Does your sons school subscribe on behalf of its pupils to 'Education city'? There are some really great exercises on there for helping children learn their times tables. Try to keep learning very relaxed and fun. If your son feels under pressure or anxious then he will not be in the right frame of mind to learn. Counting up and down in the 2,5 and 10 times table is a fun game. Using different tones and noise levels in his voice will help to instil knowledge too.

princesslaura

Percy Parker is good - you can find all of the songs on YouTube.

building_with_lego

I volunteer as a times tables tester so may I offer some hints here?

"My" children are Year 3 and I've been going in every week since October to test three or four of them on their tables, starting with 2, 10 and 5.

The first section covers each table forwards, then in a random order. I have had several children who absolutely know the table by rote, and perform brilliantly on the first part, come unstuck and panic on the second part, as they know the pattern but not the actual sum, if you know what I mean. They know that 16 follows 14 but can't compute/ remember that that is 8x2 when it's presented after 4x2, for example.

Really, the best way that he'll learn is by you throwing sums out there at him! He can use his fingers if he needs to but he will get faster with practice. Get him to recite them with you but then jumble them up to cement his knowledge of them. When he's more confident with each one in a random order you can jumble up all three together to really get him thinking.

[Deleted User]

Thank you all. I have been doing the random approach but its caused doubt and pressure so I am not sure how to proceed as I want him to understand the "sum" as Building with Lego says.

The school website allow you to do them in order or random, but he just seems to find it hard to recall the harder sums and starts from the beginning rather than from his knowledge base.

I am trying to keep calm and have written a note in his homework diary that although he has tried hard, he isn't at instant recall yet. So we haven't worked on the divisional sums that you can progress to.

I don't know what website they use, its just links from the school portal.

mysuni

I used a times table cd which we listened to in the car. It drove me mad but my daughter learnt them well from learnng the "songs".

suejb2

This was a "homework sucks" question on Radio 2 a while back.A retired maths teacher (I think) came on with his answer to it,he played a guitar; sang in an Elvis, blues,rock style it was great.
I can't sing or play a guitar but I rythmically (sp) speak the tables to my year 4 D.S in order.Then throw in a random sum.

Nenen

I've been teaching for over 30 years and have found that most children benefit from learning tables using a multisensory approach with a variety of methods. The following are some of the different things I do with children:

1. Chanting while clapping or tapping a beat - rap style;
2. Printing out a hundred square (one is available here: http://www.fernmid.dorset.sch.uk/Documents/Maths/TA%20Resources/100%20Square.jpg) and colouring the multiples of the table they are working on in order to see the pattern they make;
3. For 2x table write each of the numbers 0 - 20 on separate pieces of card (A5 or A6 is ideal) then lay them in numerical order in a long line on the floor (up the hallway is ideal). The child stands on 0 and has to say aloud - 'zero times 2 is zero' then jumps over 1 onto 2 and says aloud, 'one times 2 is two'; jumps onto 4 and says, 'two times two is four' etc etc.
4. Help the child to make his/her own 'flip cards' - for example. assuming your child is learning the 2x table from 0x to 10x, you will need 11 pieces of thin card approximately 7cm square. Ask your child to write a multiplication sum on one side of a card (e.g 1 x 2 ) using a coloured felt pen and then write the answer (2) on the other side of the card in the same colour. Write in a different colour for each card/sum. The child starts by putting the cards sum side up in numerical order and then says the sum aloud (very important for multisensory learning) then tries to remember what the answer is. If s/he is unsure s/he can hold the card up to the light and can see the answer through the card. S/he then flips the card over to see if s/he is correct. Once all the cards have been flipped over to the answer side then the child tries to do the same thing in reverse, i.e. look at the answer (e.g. 6) and remember the sum (3 x 2). Once s/he can do this in numerical order, then muddle the cards up and do them in random order. The child can keep flipping over from sum to answer and back again until these are learned by heart.
5. Writing the tables out in order - very important to write the sum and the answer, not just the answers. The problem many children have is that they can count in 2s but don't know what 8x2 is without counting in 2s from the beginning. Children can obviously write the tables out on paper but it is much more fun if you sprinkle some flour or talcum powder onto a baking tray and let them 'write' using their finger in the powder - remember to encourage them to say the whole sum aloud as they write.
6. Play 'beat the clock' - I think a table has been learned well when a child can answer at least 10 random questions in 30 seconds so, after the child has been learning a particular table for a day or two, I will test him/her to see how many questions s/he can answer in 30 seconds using the stopwatch on my laptop or mobile phone. Assuming the child answers around 3-6 questions the first time, the challenge is to keep practising with chanting, flip cards etc and then test again a couple of days later, with the aim being to improve the score each time until 10 is reached. I give lots of praise for each extra point scored.

One final thought - check with your child's school what number they expect the child to learn up to. Most parents were taught tables up to 12x so they assume this is what their children have to do. The original insistence on learning up to 12x is a throwback to the old pre-decimal days (12 shillings in a pound and 12 inches on one foot). However, decimalization has rendered it unnecessary to do more than 10x so many schools only require children to learn up to 10x a given number, which is considerably easier and, I believe, more helpful mathematically,

barbiedoll

We taught our son the times tables by rote/parrot fashion. We started quite early, before he started full-time school! (only 2 and 3 x tables at that age though, he's not a prodigy or anything!)

We did a different table every night after his bedtime story, just repeating it twice and then leaving it, no random sums. When I walked him to the childminders in the morning, we would recite a random one, eg 11 x table on Monday, 3 x table on Tuesday etc etc.

When we thought that he had a good grasp of the repetition, we would then throw in random sums. Even now that he is 16, we still occasionally ask him a random sum or get him to recite a table which he will do with great exasperation and much rolling of eyes!

It worked though, he says that many of his friends really don't know their tables, he often gets asked what is 7x8 (for example) during maths lessons.

Keep at it but don't make a huge issue of it. Just do it throughout the day and see it as teaching them any other good habit. How often do we have to tell our children to say "please" and "thank you" before it becomes second nature?