AIBU to hate Times Tables Rockstars?

[Rinoachicken]

So my 6 year old has a login for TTRS. He has SEN and really struggles in all areas.

Sat down this weekend to have a go at the 2x and 1x tables which is what they’ve been doing at school.

But no, you can’t choose which times tables to practice - it just has all of them, plus divisions.

So his first question is 98/2. He has no idea of the answer, can see the timer counting down, and gets all upset, doesn’t want to play. He can’t even skip the question.

Way to put kids under pressure and destroy a child’s confidence.

Why is there no practice mode with no timer? Why is there no option to choose which tables to include? Surely that’s a pretty basic function??!!

When DD first got TTRockstars she just couldn't cope with the time pressure. She already has anxiety issues, so I had a quick chat with her then year 3 teacher about how it was more detrimental to her maths which until that point had been her strongest subject. Just after that a longer timer (5 minutes I think) appeared that wasn't initially on there so I've assumed it was something the teacher could switch off and on. With that and me insisting she only uses the longest timer available, DD calmed down about time pressure and it's actually been useful.

Need to start DS up now with it, so I wonder if his will include the longer timer or not.

The reason it is used is because it trains children to pass the times table screening bought in by the government. Just knowing your tables isn’t enough. It’s speed and technique. I know of schools that have children very confident with their times tables in the traditional sense where only one or two in the class actually achieved a pass in the mock screening. It’s an acknowledged fact that children do better in the screening when they do times table rockstars. Also check that a baseline has been done. You have to play the game 10 times before the programme algorithms are able to set an appropriate learning pathway.

I agree. Its. It useful for them at this age. My daughter is 6 aswell. She is just starting to know her 2s, 5s and 10s times tables. She had never seen a division and wouldn't have a clue what to do
Been given her log in details, and it's asking her 50% multiplication and 50% division, against the clock! She's only just begun to learn them! I don't see how it's helpful at this she and we aren't using it.
I have an older child at the school and he uses it well, but that's after years of practice!

@thegreenlight my son should have done that test this past year but due to covid it didn't actually happen.
I don't know about you, but I absolutely oppose more tests being done on our children. I do not understand why the speed element matters? Why can't they just know their times tables? It's something I was never able to grasp but it's not affected my life, after all, we all have calculators?

@thegreenlight
The reason it is used is because it trains children to pass the times table screening bought in by the government.

Whilst it is similar in how it works, TTRockstars existed and was being used in schools before any information about the format of the check had been released. We'd already given access to KS2 to it for around a year before the format of the check was announced.

Automaticity is the buzz word in maths at the moment, for all number facts. I agree speed shouldn’t matter as much as it does , but new DFE maths guidance is very clear that children should be able to answer instantly. No counting on fingers or saying the rest of the table or using known facts. That is why the test is designed with the timing it has. To stop children using strategies other than instant recall.

It needs to be set up right by the teacher.

But for DS it was amazing. He is autistic and has other learning difficulties. At the start of year 3 he could only just do his 2 times tables by the end of year 4 he was flying through his times tables from memory thanks to TTRS.

@thegreenlight

Automaticity is the buzz word in maths at the moment, for all number facts. I agree speed shouldn’t matter as much as it does , but new DFE maths guidance is very clear that children should be able to answer instantly. No counting on fingers or saying the rest of the table or using known facts. That is why the test is designed with the timing it has. To stop children using strategies other than instant recall.

Accuracy should trump speed at every turn. However, when you are completing a Year Six level long multiplication question, you have eight 'times tables' and at least five additions to complete in order to answer one question. That's just with a given question; inside of a problem, it's even more difficult.

If times tables and addition/subtraction facts with 20 aren't automatic and they have to figure each one out then you're overloading a child's working memory. This significantly increases the likelihood of the child getting the question wrong. That's why it's important.

Sorry if someone has mentioned this, but according to DH (who actually sorted this for DD) you can log in to the app & change the timer settings. Go into single player, select Garage, & there's an arrow in the bar about 1/3 of the way down the screen, it brings a drop down menu which allows you to select more time options. (DD was getting frustrated & giving up because there wasn't enough time, now she loves it.)

However this only work for garage mode, which is apparently the practice mode of the app. We mostly use it on the app. Were unsure how to change it on desktop.

DD(6) is good at maths but she hates TTRS as well. It's either too hard and stressful (timer, questions she's not sure on yet), or too easy and boring (gives her the same 4 sums over and over and she needs to do the challenge loads of times to move on). She really hates the timer most of all, though.

She also struggles with her weekly CLIC/Big Maths test. She knows the answers but the timer stresses her out completely. She copes better with it at school when it's written down rather than online, but when we had to do it at home on the laptop it was awful, she got so upset every time. She's worried she'll be on the same "level" forever and never move up!

She did/does enjoy Mathletics because there's no timer and a lot less pressure.

Update: teacher seems to have sorted it from her end, also sent home instructions which were very helpful! When we logged in again it took him to ‘gig’ which wasn’t there before, and ‘garage’ had now gone. From the instructions, the ‘gig’ bit is where it starts easy and checks his knowledge so it can set itself at the right level. So we did that, and it only gave him 1 and 2 x which was perfect.

Also downloaded the hit the button app and ordered the orchard toys times table game as well so hopefully got all bases covered! 😂

Great news OP, social media can be helpful sometimes

AIBU can be helpful!!!

Excellent, glad you got it sorted.

When analysing results and which questions children got wrong. It became clear to us many children simply ran out of time but knew the answers to many questions they never got around to. We now do timed tests in some areas to get the children used to exam situations. Timed and untimed sessions have their place when informing teachers of development areas.
The old fashioned trial and error.