How did you teach your child the times tables?

Question

My daughter is 6 & really having a hard time learning the basic times tables. Do you have a special trick I could use?

Answer 1

Where we live, schools teach the 2s and the 10s at 7 and the rest of the times tables at 8, so I wouldn't be in a panic that she doesn't know them at 6. You want them to have a very strong sense of adding and subtracting before getting into multiplication.



But if you're sure she has a solid foundation, you have her memorize the doubles facts first (the 2s). The fours are double the twos, and the 3s are the 2s plus one more of the number. The 10s just add a 0, and the 9s are the 10s minus one of the number. The 5s are half the tens, and so on. That limits the number of things you have to memorize when you're first learning, because you can figure a lot of them out.



There's another trick for the 9s, as well. Hold your hands spread out in front of you with your fingers spread out. If you're doing, say 9x3, put down your third finger from the left (your middle finger of your left hand) and keep the other fingers pointing out. You'll have 2 fingers to the left of the finger that's down, and 7 to the right ... and 9x3 = 27. This works for all the 9s up to 9x9.



You can also check out timez attack on the computer (google it; there's a free download). Try it first because it might not really be appropriate for all 6-year-olds, but it's pretty fun for older kids.

Answer 2

Six is a little young to be making her learn times tables, unless she's

really, really math-talented. Multiplication is more than just memorizing tables. But anyway, to teach times tables, they have to really grasp the concept of adding. They have to also grasp place value, such as 45: means 4 tens and 5 ones. Tell her that Multiplication is just adding a whole bunch of times. 3 x 5 is adding 5 three times, or adding 3 five times. Start out with a bunch of dried beans and a muffin tin or two, so that she has tactile experience along with visual. Start with the small ones (the 1 x , and the 2 x) , show her on paper, and then also with the beans, sorted into the cups. Show her how the sorting works, and she can figure out her own answers too.

Also tell her that any number times one is itself. Any number times 2 is like adding it twice (3 + 3). Any number times 3 is adding it 3 times.

She also has to understand commutative property of addition and multiplication (order doesn't matter. 3 x 4 is the same as 4 x 3). In math, the understanding of what you're doing is MORE important than memorizing the tables because once the kids has that down, then the memorizing goes quickly because they know what they're doing.



Good luck with your little girl!

Answer 3

Is your daughter in grade 6 or 6 years old??? If she's only 6 years old she's WAY WAY WAY to young to be expected to master her times tables...if she's in grade 6....then you have some work to do. Either way...the best way to teach a child times tables is to teach the easiest first.....anything times 0 = 0.....so put 0x1, 0x2 etc on flash cards (write the answer on the back...do them until 10) Then do your 1 times tables, again easy....then go for the 2 times tables....use EVERY opportunity to count by 2's...now, your daughter will have the confidence to move on to something more challenging....introduce the 3's but be sure to mix them in with the other...easier flashcards....every week...introduce the next one.....she'll get it....just be sure to practice every single day....lastly, there's a cd you can buy and each times table has it's own catchy song...I bought mine at a book store....I lent it to the teacher (grade 3) and the entire class used it and learned their times tables very very quickly! Good luck!!

Answer 4

My girls' best subject is maths yet both had trouble with times tables ie going over and over anything can put them off maths if you're not careful. Now obviously you're just talking about 2x, 5x and 10x at that age? So, there's the look, cover etc method and the saying them over and over (eek, see above), but what my girls preferred and I would suggest for that age is to buy an actual multiplication book. They print ones with cute little animals and actually look a little like activity books and they are even sold in supermarkets. Or you can play games with toys, sweets, etc, where you make two rows of say lollipops, you count them all, then in their rows of two (as in 2,4,6..) then you do the "So, one row of 2 is 2, 2 rows of 2 is 4," etc. For 5s you can just let them count using their fingers and toes, and for tens its possibly best done on paper. Just show her with some Lego's or smarties how it actually works so she understands the concept of how much it is but then just show her how you just put a zero on the end. But keep in mind, you do NOT want her hating doing times tables already, she's going to spend the next few years doing them.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

what i used to do was...





i used to write the multiples of the number in order:

eg 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50



and i would read them.



then my mum used to rub one off

eg 0 5 10 15 25 30 35 40 45 50



i wold read it again but adding in the 20, then she would rub another number off and i used to read what was there adding the two numbers that she had rubbed off......and so on....





until eventually she is not reading anything but she is saying the times tables that she has memorized.







hope i helped





it worked well or me and my brother Still learns them that way

Answer 6

She is a little young to be learning her times tables. My gifted son did times tables in 1st grade because he was bored out of his mind with adding and subtracting to 18. Give her a little more time to absorb basic math.



Have a great day!

Answer 7

We practice before bed too. He picks the number and we do the drill.



There's no magic to times tables because it all boils down to memorization. Just hang in there and practice.

Answer 8

My daughter is 8 and her teacher has taught her some songs ... 3's and 4's .. The 3's are to the tune of "Happy Birthday" .. the 4's are to the tune of "Row, Row, Row your Boat".

Answer 9

esay 1*4=100

Answer 10

you can buy times table grids.or times table posters.try ...'look,cover,write,check' this is when you let your daughter look at the answers then you cover them up, test her on them then check she got them right.it will just take time.im 13 and i still struggle with my 7s and 8s.she will get it eventually. Best wishes.

Answer 11

when i was little there was a song. and we would sing and dance to it every morning in school. worked realllllly well

and even now i sometimes resort to the song haha and im 16

Answer 12

My son says them every night before he goes to bed. Lol, it's a different one every night.

Answer 13

You could use sweets or toys for counting.

Answer 14

Flash cards work well ,