How are kids taught multiplication in school?

silverharp

Just curious on finding a good method of remembering his multiplication tables. He understands the concept but has to work it out in his head (good practice too). I just noticed that it slows down doing division if he has to work it all out.
For fun I started teaching him a phonetic alphabet and was thinking of using that as a way to remember them so each number would be an image so essentially each multiplication would be a picture. Had him in giggles so far.

January

Moved to Primary & Pre School

enda1

Times tables surely. Having these basic sums memorised off helps so much in fast mathematics. These should not really be "worked out" as that slows things down too much.

silverharp

I know you want to get to the point where the child doesnt have to think , just trying to get a handle on any interesting ways of going throught the process besides pure rote and if rote, what tools to use , flash cards, rhymes etc.

Mary28

As far as I remember times tables is done by rote learning. There are some places where rote learning works well and this is one. It's how I know how to multiply anyway. My 80 yr old aunt in America 60 yrs, still does her times tables in Irish in her head cos thats how she learned them in school.

Mary28

Sorry didn't really answer your question there in my last post. I'm not sure, last time I was in a primary classroom (last year) the teachers were just using rote learning, singing it off in a rhyme. They had some good games like using interactive countdown and loop games but this was done as a whole class. You need a group for a loop game but you could do countdown, here's a link to a good site I used:
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/countdown/

mydearwatson

In my sister's class (4th class), they are all given sheets with blank multiplication squares like this one. They get one sheet per week with four tables on it, and part of their homework every night is to get someone to time them filling it in, and try to do it faster each time. I guess the idea is that when you're doing it so many times, you can't help but get to know them off by heart! The kids correct each others' squares, and 10 seconds is added on to the time for any of them that are wrong. It gets very competitive between them to get the fastest time, as you can imagine!

byhookorbycrook

Print out the hundred squares. Write the no. table you are doing clearly as a heading. Colour in each "stop" on the different hundred squares. so for say,the 3 times tables colour in 3/6/9/12 -and if an older child, which I presume it is, you can up to the closest stop to 100. Chant the "stops" using the squares to support at first. Then as the child gets more comfortable, let them turn the square facedown and say they can look-maybe 3 times,reduce it to 2 times and finally none.

For variety you can use the counting cadences below and say bang the table in time, or march or whatever, the more fun it is -and the more "multi-sensory" it is the more the child will want to do it.
http://www.seomraranga.com/2010/09/counting-cadence/

For division you can use the inverse, so 8 x 6 -count in eights until you reach the sixth stop so 48 divided by 8 is how many stops up the 8x table -if you follow.

Timing each day for a "personal best" does help lots. There's a great free site that we use in school called sumdog.com. Lots of games and you can set the parameters of what you want the child to work on.

http://www.fun4thebrain.com/quizzes.html is good for revision and games too.Anf for speed and accuracy http://resources.oswego.org/games/SumSense/summulti.html

silverharp

Thanks, some good links there. I like the 100 Squares concept, he is only 6 so I want to make it as entertaining as possible. He likes doing things on the net so he should enjoy the websites. I have been using the Khan academy website as a way of structuring the concepts.

rebelpixie

Before you go near the tables, multiplication should be looked at as repeated addition. For example:

3X2= 3 groups of 2=2 +2 +2

Draw pictures, or use things like buttons/pieces of card/toys etc

Imagine each star below is a picture or button:

** ** ** = 6

That way, the child will see that multiplication is a quick way of adding. He needs to understand this before learning the facts. I wouldn't go near the facts yet, he is only 6. Lots of work with using real life things, like pairs of socks, shoes for example.

silverharp

rebelpixie wrote: »

Before you go near the tables, multiplication should be looked at as repeated addition. For example:

3X2= 3 groups of 2=2 +2 +2

Draw pictures, or use things like buttons/pieces of card/toys etc

Imagine each star below is a picture or button:

** ** ** = 6

That way, the child will see that multiplication is a quick way of adding. He needs to understand this before learning the facts. I wouldn't go near the facts yet, he is only 6. Lots of work with using real life things, like pairs of socks, shoes for example.

He can do multiplications in his head, so I think he is doing it by adding. I just want to move it on so division etc doesnt take so long. I tried him on the number square and X9 by highlighting the multiples and he seemed to like that.

cucbuc

"Tabletoppers" are workbooks by Fallons which I've been using recently for teaching/testing tables. You'd get them in any schoolbooks shop. They are colourful and nicely laid out.

http://www.cjfallon.ie/product_list.aspx?mode=1&id=166&l0=18&l1=12&l2=166