Well the day I never thought would come recently arrived. As we were driving around doing errands over the weekend M., my 7th grader, said, “I really need to learn my multiplication tables. You know, I never really learned my math facts.” Well actually I did know. It’s part of the reason we did testing in 5th grade, why I became so fed up with MCPS math instruction, which happily advanced her despite a foundation of sand. But I would have gotten exactly nowhere with her trying to address the issue last year. She would have been indignant, resistant.
But right now she’s actually liking math. She feels competent in math. And she’s come to the point where she feels comfortable and secure enough to admit that she never really learned her math facts.
On Sunday I downloaded Schoolhouse Rock’s Multiplication Rock to her iPod. And we’re searching out some fun sites to practice math facts. Do you have a favorite of learning multiplication facts?
http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/tuxmath/
Above is a link to Tux, of Math command. Our district has it on all of our computers, and the kids love it. It’s a free download. Doesn’t cause any problems with our computers.
I like to play it, too. Shhh…. don’t tell anyone.
My dd enjoyed Times Attack. (The basic version is free.)
http://www.bigbrainz.com/Download.html
I thought that it moved a little slow, but the game format kept her going. It really helped her math facts.
Times Attack is what got my ds through his facts, too, and he was very resistant to learning them.
We’ve used Times Attack and have a CD with “multiplication rap” type things, but by far the most effective route has been flashcards. Not as exciting but the facts really seem to stick the best. I used some rewards with the flashcards, but my kids are littler so she might not be as receptive to things like M&Ms.
I can not say enough great things about timez attack. My younger daughter used it and I was so glad not to be the one on the other side of the flash cards. It was never a battle to get her to work at them.
The free rice site now does times tables as well. It is not a quick drill (you have all the time you want) but my kids do like seeing the rice bowl fill. Feed a hungry child by practicing your times tables, Hurrah! http://www.freerice.com/subjects.php?t=352450158400 I will be checking out the other programs after I get my new Christmas computer. My current system is too old to run many current programs.
I’ve not learnt times tables for a while, but I remember really liking the nine times table finger trick. (Spread both hands out, put first finger down – nine fingers up (9), put second finger down – one finger, space, eight fingers (two nines are eighteen), put third finger down – two fingers, space, seven fingers (three nines are twentyseven).
We also did timed boxcharts at school – draw a grid, put a multiplication sign in the top left corner, put numbers up and down the first row and second column and off you go.
Learning in a foreign language can be good for variety too! (I went to a bilingual school as a child so I learnt both at once.)
Hi, I’m new to your site. Can’t wait to really check it out.
My suggestion for multiplication facts is very low tech — buy two ten sided dice (here’s an example: http://catalog.learning-experts.com/10_sided_dice-p-118197.html).
Have her practice her facts by rolling the dice and multiplying the two numbers together.
Easy, low-key, and can be played anywhere.
Welcome to my world! My 7 y.o. is bogged down with the multiplication tables currently. She won’t be able to finish her current math book until she’s gotten them learned by heart but she’s zooming ahead on other math topics. It’s a bit of a weird situation.
I’ve been really looking into what research there has been as to the most efficient ways to teach basic math facts. It’s surprising — we know so much now about teaching the basics of reading (phonemic awareness, maniplulation and so on) but as yet very little about how to best foster number sense and a mastery of basic facts.
In my reading, I have found this excellent book (for addition and subtraction):Speed Mathmatcs Simplified by Edward Stoddard, 1962. I am especially interested in his disuccion of the use of the Soroban abacus for teaching mental math addition and subtraction, and his discussino of the importance of solving problems in arithmatice from the left to the right, not right to left as children are taught to do in the US.
Since his work made so much sense, I hoped to find more information of a similar nature for the efficient mastery of basic multiplication facts. (My child isn’t quite there yet so it hasn’t yet come up). I am intrigued by this review of a book called Numbers Juggling: Times without the Tables by Brian Foley.
http://wildaboutmath.com/2008/03/08/review-numbers-juggling-times-without-the-tables
Hope these resources may be of interest to others! IMO the early elementary years need to be about 2 things in math education — developing solid number sense AND developing automatic accuracy in basic facts. You cannot sacrifice one for the other — and shouldn’t need to!
You guys are AWESOME! Thanks for all the great suggestions. I checked out Timez Attack, since it got two thumbs up here, and forwarded it to M. Not sure if she’s used it yet. But last night she did tell me she was doing multiplication on Free Rice.
This is our big concern, too. Thanks for the referrals everyone! (I never let my daughter see me counting on my hands either; fourth grade is where math and I parted company…I won’t let that happen to my kid.
We’ll make sure she gets screwed up in a totally different way than we were.
There is nothing wrong with counting on your fingers, if the task is counting.
I taught my son to count on his fingers in binary.
(There is an interactive tutorial on doing this, written in scratch, at http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/kevin_karplus/2162
)
When I have to count the number of things in a list, it is easiest for me to do it with the binary finger motions, especially if the things being counted are numbers.
I have to confess I count with my fingers to this day. My math whiz teenage daughter laughs every time she sees this. Okay, okay, I admit it. I’m a humanities person through and through, math was never my strong suit. Never mind they taught it all wrong (at least for me) when I was a kid. I regret that, feel like I got robbed. But at least I excelled in English and history. I even went on to be a science reporter for a time.
But Kevin has a point. I use my fingers and get the job done. Not saying necessarily this is how you should do it. But in a limited fashion, works for me.
J. (who now runs for cover under the couch)
J — I used to count to add and subtract too. I learned it that when I was 4, was very fast and accurate with it, and never needed to learn any other way. Around middle school I started feeling I was “bad” at math because I had very poor number sense. Made it through college calculus by sheer perseverence but stopped there and always thought of myself as “not a math” person. At age 40 I still counted on my fingers.
Here;’s the neat thing — it’s never too late to learn the more efficient way of doing something. Especially if you are homeschooling or teaching children somehting. I cannot tell you how highly I recommend looking at Edward Stoddard’s book — it’s probably out of print, but it is a great resource. Just the idea that people shoud ALWAYS solve addition and subtraction problems from left to right has been a revelation to me. ANd after learning how to do speed arithmatic, I challenged my math whiz husband to a timed competition, and beatthe pants off of him. SO rewarding! (-:
I don’t think counting on one’s fingers necessarily means poor number sense — it may just mean a less-than-optimal use of working memory.
I think memorization skills in general are VERY poorly taught in lots of schools. Many children with perfectly good memories are essentially taught that they have poor ones.
Carrie, I intend to do just that. My husband bought me a wonderful math workbook years ago but I’ve abandoned it, much to his chagrin. He was all prepared to teach me math. When my daughter graduates, I would like to pursue math with fervor. I developed a phobia of it in high school but I have a feeling I can conquer this and maybe even become good at it. I am determined.
As for homeschooling, when I told friends, they laughed. YOU are going to teach math, one friend squealed incredulously, barely containing her giggles. How are you going to do it? CTY math, I shot back!
I farmed math out. Worked like a charm. The tutor was always there, I suspect he never even went to the bathroom, lest daughter ring. She rarely got stuck, she’s right brained so geometry is candy to her, but when she did, my Harvard educated husband bailed her out.
I’m not selling myself short a compared to the visual spatial people I live with. I dare not admit my math deficiencies because it sounds oh, so retro, coming from me, the devout feminist. But my writing? Now we’re talking! (Please don’t judge anything from the comments I post. And I know I made some grammar mistakes, chalk it up to shoveling fatigue.)
AS compared, meant to write. Typo. Switched on, can you just correct it? Thanks!
Times Tales. Great for visual learners. It uses story clues to connect the facts. Timez Attack worked for one of mine but not the other. Incidentally, the one I got it for is the one it didn’t work for since there was a time element that threw him. The younger one thrives on that and quickly bypassed the older one, thus cementing his avoidance of the game.
Oh god thanks for the reminder about Schoolhouse Rock! DD, 6th grade, needs to bone up as well. DS’s tutor used that with him back in 4th or 5th grade (he’s now a sophmore).