teaching times tables

[cheesesarnie]

dd and ds1-aged 10 and 9 are both dyslexic.ds loves maths,he loves the patterns and 'science' behind it(his words).but finds harder maths easier than more'simple' maths problems!he reckons that if he thinks about it,he cant do it!
neither of them are great on times tables.any tips or maybe rhymes that may help?
ds likes 9 times because of the pattern.

[Timebends]

I think it is common for potentially able mathematicians who suffer from a SpLd to struggle with the basic arithmetic/numeracy that constitutes maths at primary school but come into their own later at secondary school.

I use a cd called Numbershark which many schools have in their learning support departments (there is a spelling one called Wordshark too) It has lots of visual games which can easily be prgrammed to use with whatever table or number bond or fraction your child happends to be learning. It also has a structured table-learning course on it.

You can program each child separately so that the study is progressive and individual - it is intended for multi-pupil use at school. It is expensive at about 70 pounds but if you like the sound of it, perhaps ask a teacher who uses it for further explanation or confirmation of its usefulness.

[cornsilk]

ditto numbershark

[mumof2littlegirls]

Hello, I have a wipe clean times tables poster, which DD1 loves to fill in making it more of a game than learning. Also from the same site, you can get a times tables fan, which consists of plastic discs - 1 for each table, answers on 1 side, no answers on the reverse. This is great for in the car, also 2 children can use it together to play games, test each other etc - hope this helps!!

[sarahfreck]

Google Percy Parker Times Tables - all the times tables set to poppy songs that children like. Can be good if children like learning via listening and if they pick up song lyrics easily. Play ad infinitum in car etc

[eatyourveg]

yes we had a tape too - the early learning centre used to sell one but thats going back a bit. We had the letterland tape too which had songs to help them learn which sound the letters made.

music works wonders in teaching children without them realising

[lovecheese]

Timebends, Hi, not posted here before although have posted many times in primary ed. Can i ask what SpLd is? The first paragraph of your post I think sums my DD up exactly in that she is a bright girl - in year 5 and working at a level 4a/pushing a 5 in literacy to give you a comparison - but has always struggled with mental maths and quick recall. She herself says that she just cannot picture numbers in her head and process a sum mentally, she has to write it down; Hence she is in the lower half of her year for numeracy and is getting increasingly frustrated because she thinks the teachers think that she is "Thick". I would appreciate any advice or explanation that you could offer me if I am on the right lines with what you said in your post, thanks.

[BikeRunSki]

I struggled with times tables. Mum made some cards on blank postcards and wrote sums on one side "3x2", "7x9", that kind of thing and the answer on the back. We played a game where she put them "sum up" on the table/floor, she pointed at a card and it was "out" if I got the answer right. 30 years later, BSc and PhD in numerate subjects, I still sometimes just "know" the answers to multiplication sums in no pattern at all.

[ILoveChocolatePudding]

Try Timez Attack which is a pc based game. Very good. Won't realise that it is educational. If you google name you will find the product. Comes from the US and we found it to be a superior product to anything we could find from UK.