Ds, 8, is struggling with maths and it's making him unhappy.

[cadelaide]

He is having problems with division and times tables and I wonder whether anyone can recommend any workbooks please?
He just cannot seem to learn times tables by chanting, he has a huge mental block. Someone on here recommended software but he became bored with that.We've talked about him moving down a group to ease the pressure but he's a bit worried about other kids teasing.(Teacher has said he's only just in the top group, iyswim).
I thought maybe we could do a bit at home to boost his confidence, I'd find it especially helpful to hear from teachers.
TIA.

My only child is just over 2, so sorry if this is bad advice, but I thought the Brain Training games on Nintendo DS would be interesting to your DS.

They have parts that are just about simple arithmetics (in different ways) and it's all about how fast you can write the correct answers. It charts your performance over time. There are also other exercises/games. It's all quite fun.

For learning the tables, have you tried any of the musical tables tapes?
These websites are great. I use them alot when teaching.
table mountain is usually popular
primary games site

I teach seniors but have DCs of my own of a similar age to your DS. At home we practise number bonds a lot and do mental adding and subtracting eg 123 add 563 by adding the 100s then 10s then units and putting it all together. For times tables I use a variety of strategies. Chanting out loads can be dull but does have a place. Counting up in 3s, 4s etc does remind the child which numbers are in that table and can be good. Going backwards is much harder- time him to see if he can get faster! Linking multiplying to adding is useful. 3 times 7 is 7 add 7 add 7 etc. I aimed to get my DCs solid with 3s, 4s and 5s before going higher. Then they get the idea more easily. Then when they are ready for 6s, 7s etc they already know lots of them which cheers them up. Little rhymes help with the harder ones eg clap clap knock on the door eight eights are sixty four. Make up your own- it is fun if you do actions too. Once they were good with 3s, 4s we practised the division facts from those times tables. The whole thing takes a couple of years- lots of practise little and often I find helps. We often do this stuff in the car. I am not dragging them away from anything more exciting and they enjoy it more in consequence. Another useful website is triple w apples4theteacher dot com; find the multiples halloween ghost games- they are good fun. Click lots on the right ghosts, avoid the wrong ones...Hope some of this helps!

oooh, thanks everyone.
Back later.

if he is physical learner you could try practising tables etc as you throw a ball/beanbag at each other.
Looking at the patterns in tables can help some people. e.g. 6 times table is double the 3 times table, 4x is double 2x. for 6x all even nos answers end in same no as you are multiplying by e.g. 2x6=12 (ends in 2)
4x6=24 (ends in 4). does this make sense? Sorry off work ill so slightly incoherent.

Try looking at a times tble grid nd spotting patterns.

Thanks all.
Have no plan in mind, I'm going to try some of the excellent ideas here and see what works.
I think a large part of the problem is confidence, he thinks he can't do it and is starting to panic before maths lessons. I have spoken to his teacher but I left feeling she hadn't really heard, she just talked about the class as a whole and i felt she didn't understand the depth of ds's worry.
I believe she's a good teacher, others in the school have loved her, but ds perceives her as a scarey shouter.