Can most other 6 year olds do times tables?

[confusedlots]

Our DS seems to have a love of maths and will ask us to ask him maths questions for him to work out. He's 6 years old and does adding and subtracting in school but they haven't done any multiplying yet.

So he was interested in multiplying and we explained what it was and he seemed to grasp it quite quickly but we were just giving him easy ones to do.

Yesterday he asked for harder ones and I asked him what 16 x 16 was and he gave me the correct answer and was able to tell me how he worked it out! I had to check it on a calculator. I gave him some other difficult ones and he got them all right.

Is that normal for a 6 year old??

Obviously not usual for a 6yo. Maths is pretty basic in KS1 imo but they might introduce 10, 2 and 5 times tables (from memory).

I'd encourage it as they are like sponges at this age. Ask the school whether he's being challenged in maths, and you could look into online games etc (Maths Factor etc) but keep it for fun and not pressured and not an excuse for hours of screen time at bedtime ;)

The fact he can tell you how he did it is great. Does he watch Numberblocks? My mathsy kids love that and it is fab.

I cannot remember how old I was when I started multiplication. I was basically shit at maths but thanks to mum getting me to recite the times table every night I could work out things such as when we went into Woolworths (showing my age!!) and bought 4 ice creams @ 9d each (really showing my age!) quick as anything I thought 9x4 =36d and was shocked when the sales assistant did not have a clue!

That is really clever!

So at DS’ school they go through a mastery approach to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division so you can’t be marked as achieving in Reception if you can’t do all of that for numbers up to 5. In year 1 it’s numbers up to 10. So if you haven’t done this with him before it’s likely they’ve already set up the groundwork.

I’d test him by giving him practical questions not ones that rely on memory or methods: eg cooking or sorting lego pieces.

That is not usual at all! He sounds great

No, it's not normal. So go ahead and encourage it.

Although I should note that DD had a few "wow, she's a genius" moments along these lines at that age and even younger. She's now 9 and clearly very smart and capable, but within the realm of normally advanced vs super advanced.

No not normal, if he is gifted then try and find things to help develop his talent.

Mine has been doing times tables from early in Y1. He has a genuine interest in maths, so we’ve just followed his lead. It isn’t normal without working on it though. As in it’s just rote memorisation really and they only know it if you practice.

DA could at 6 - he’s now 7. He loves maths and hates English. Encourage him and let him enjoy it!

Not, I would not say usual.
My ds knew all his multiplication tables by 6 and was fascinated by patterns in numbers so once he grasped what multiplication was, he was well away! It was definitely not rote learning as he understood the patterns which is what it sounds like your ds is now doing.
Encourage his love of Maths, some good suggestions above. DS also loved Murderous Maths at that age.
DS is now 22 and very definitely turned out to be an exceptional Mathematician, with a First from Oxford and a very lucrative job

Not typical, but not overly remarkable, especially on mumsnet.

No that's quite advanced for a 6 year old.
My DD knows all her times tables and is one of the best in her class at them but she is 9

I was trying to learn my tables at 7 / 8 years old. My sister ,who was 4 / 5 quickly knew all the answers. She said 'It's easy, it's just patterns'. She went on to excel at maths and worked in IT all her life. I grew up thinking I was thick, (I'm not).
It does just come easy to some. Depending on his personality this could be a good or bad thing.
He may think everything should be easy and never work hard or he may, hopefully, relish a challenge, an excel at lots of things.
Good luck keeping him motivated and challenged.

Not usual at all!...DS1 is 9 and had been working at 'greater depth' in math all the way through school and that would take him a little while to work out in his head.

I learnt all the taught times tables quite young, and taught myself harder ones, as I enjoyed it - I'm not sure I'm particularly normal though. 🫣