times tables

[BariatricObama]

i have finally lost patience with dd counting on her fingers. she is in p1 and is no further ahead with maths that when she started (imo) so in desperation i started the times tables with her yesterday. am i being a loon?

No you are not being a loon, my dcs teachers are happy that we chant timetables like in the "olden days" because they don't have time in class anymore and timestables are the so necessary.

thanks jen, now i can concentrate on feeling guilty for not starting it sooner!

Have you thought about using a musical CD for Times Tables?
I used the Early Learning one and it's really worked a treat with grandson.

The only thing I would comment on here is that times tables are just addition and if her addition isn't strong I would work on that first. I have found that my DD has had no problem picking up times tables because her mental arithmetic is good. When she is struggling to find an answer I will often play around with the numbers and use things I know she is secure on to get the answer. Currently I am not using the chanting method to go through times tables with her but I can see that you could easily do that.

I do wonder what's going on in schools at the moment, over the past couple of days I have read threads on here where 'teachers don't have time to read with children' and also now that they ' don't have time for times tables'. Frankly unless the basics are embedded the children will struggle.

One thing I would add, OP, is to make sure that your DD can relate a x table question to an answer IYKWIM; DD1 could merrily count away in 5's or 2's or whatever till the cows came home and we thought (naively I realise now but she is our PFB) that she had them sussed; roll on a couple of years and she was finding maths hard because she could not relate the answers to a x table question. Luckily she is on the way up again now and is gaining in confidence, and we are making sure that DD2 in yr1 knows them thoroughly.

her mental arithmetic is pretty much regressing due to the whole finger counting nonsense. hence the times tables. it is fairly depressing

I am going to do the chanting method this summer with DD4, who needs to greatly speed up her recall of maths facts. It's possible to combine fingers and chanting -- i.e. hold up a finger for each number (pinky on left hand = 25 for 5X tables if thumb = 5). That way, a certain finger is associated with a certain answer. Or chant the whole equation. (I remember spending hours, as it seemed at the time, doing this in school.)

I'm a former maths teacher, former kumon instructor and new maths blogger - here's some advice:
Start with x2's and work on those until they're perfect, do 2-10 mins per day
Move on to x3's and again perfect those.
Before moving onto x4's go back and review x'2's MIXED with X3's until those are perfect. Carry on in this way 'til you reach the end.
Rhyme's, chanting, and other tricks are great as well, but make sure to do the drills.
Oral or Written is fine.
I talk about this on a video on my website

Good Luck!

The URL is www.mathsinsider.com

Just email me if you have any questions

why are you calling it 'finger counting nonsense?

Why is using fingers to count nonsence?

Order done at schools is often: 10, 2, 5, 3, 4, 8, 9, 7 - then 11 and 12 later, although 11 is dead easy anyway.

Chanting is fine BUT ,ake sure they understand the concept of multiplication - that it is linked to adding, and the opposite of sharing/dividing.

Some children find memorising hard - so give them tools to learn them too. 9s you can do on fingers very quickly; 4s is double double; etc.

What year is P1? Is it same as 4-5y or 5/6y groups? In Y1 in England they are pretty much nly doing 10, 2 and 5 and then doing it as counting in 10s, etc rather than actual multiplication or times tab;les.

And using fingers is not nonsensical - it can be a very useful tool when counting on and counting back.

Using fingers to count isn't actually nonsense, it is widely recognised as a very important tool in helping young children learn to count.

Is P1 the same as Year 1 in England and Wales? DS2 is in Year 1 and has learnt his 2, and 10 times tables. DS1 is in Year 2 and has also learnt his 5 and 3. They still learn them by chanting them.

I agree Hula.