Times tables- year 3

[Chrisinthemorning]

DS is really struggling to remember his times tables.
He knows 2,5,10,11 no problems but the rest just won’t stick! He’s supposed to be on all up to 12 and incorporating division.
TT Rock stars doesn’t work- anything with a time limit gets him in a panic and he forgets even the ones he knows. Because he’s slow TTRS only tests him on the 10x and doesn’t seem to let him progress.
I have tried the way I learned them- by rote - a CD in the car and we have a book called times fables as well.
He’s very good at English- free reader and working above in reading, at expectations in English and apparently at expectations in Maths as well. Tested in February at school.
I would appreciate any advice.

Depends how he best learns. You could try you tube (songs to help memorise) or apps. Squeebles flip time tables app is good in that it teaches them they need to only learn half the table 4 x 8 is the same as 8 x 4. Which you’d think be obvious but apparently isn’t that intuitive for lots. Or there’s books with pull down tabs so he can correct himself (some kids remembered better by correcting themselves).

Twinkl (while it’s still free) also has colour in by multiplication, and various multiplication games to play.

You can also do matching pairs from pieces of paper or make your own bingo card.

Definitely tell them about the sum working both ways (4 x 2 is same as 2 x 4) as my daughter didn’t realise this and it’s helped her a lot.

For 9 times table have you taught him the hand trick? E.g if it’s 3 x 9, put both hands up and put your third finger down and look at the fingers either side (2 + 7 so answer is 27).

If he knows his 2 x table, try teaching him that 4 times table is double that amount. So if 2 x 7 is 14, 4 x 7 would be double 14 (28).

My children are also in year 3 (twins) and currently trying to get times tables to stick also! So definitely following this thread for more tips.

I bought a brilliant book called Times Fables - it doesn’t teach 2,5,10 but does the rest in narrative - it’s been amazing. We read it daily (it’s short) and after two weeks of they don’t know the answer I remind them the story and they get it. I’m not explaining well but it really is worth a look.

Honestly you just have to keep practising. I give the same worksheet each day so that it becomes easy. Seems lazy but it works.

Good advice above.
But don't worry too much about going all the way up to 12x12 as that's not a requirement until the end of yr 4. In the meantime, just focus on one set at a time - the whole lot is too daunting. Look for the patterns, so if the 4s are secure, look at the 8s. Notice the same answers that crop up. All of them will be even.
The more tables they get under their belt, the fewer there are to learn with the rest of you see what I mean. So by the time they get to the 7s (one of the hardest as no real pattern to the answers), they actually know most of them already (e.g 2 sevens is already covered by 7 twos).
Persevere. It will be worth it.

I second times fables. Our 12 year old, severely dyscalculic DD has finally got it thanks to that book. There is a website that is not relevant to the book but they teach it in a similar way. Also, try to explain it in a way that is skip counting. Get some pasta shapes or something else and explain that TT is just skip counting. There's some great videos on YouTube and this explanation helped my DD understand how to figure out the next one if she's stuck. I agree TT rockstars is horrible for kids that struggle with TT. I have no idea why so many rave about it.

Pp what's the fables website?

www.tablefables.net/

There are a few "tricks" you can incorporate. If he can do 2,5,10 & 11 then for the rest he already knows 1x?, 2x?, 5x?, 10x? & 11x? so it's a matter of filling in the gaps.

For 3x?, add one more ? onto the previous answer, which was 2x?

For 4×?, add yet another ? Or double the 2x? Or take ? away from 5x?

For 6x?, add ? to the 5x?

Ditto for 7x? & 8x? These are harder but see my last comment later on.

For 9x? take ? away from 10x?

Lastly for 12x? add ? to 11x?

It also helps to learn the squares separately, eg 6 x 6, 7x7 etc which you can do with a dot picture showing they make a square with the same number of columns & rows. Then there are even less to fill in.

I made some snap card depending on what she was learning (2 a4 sheets of paper and pen). Dd matched the timetables to the answer. Then the anwer to the timetables. Once she was comfortable i intoduced a time limit, which she then had to beat, therefore competing with herself. She now has the best score on ttrs in her year group.

Dd did one sum a day. Get dc to repeat it five or six times throughout the day. Every few days have a break to revise what sums have already been done. This gets it from short term to long term memory.

Also, teaching them the tricks does help a lot.

Another variation on the 9 times table trick is to take one away from whatever you times by. That goes in the tens column. Whatever you have to add to it to make 9 goes in the units.

For the fives; if the number is even, halve it and times by ten. If odd, take one away first, halve it, times by ten, then add on five. Dd used to love the fact that that she knew her five times table right up into the thousands.

I also agree with idlevice on learning the square numbers.

Drawing squares and rectangles will help visualise times tables, and, by dividing the rectangles into strips, they can see how division is the opposite of multiplication.

You can then move on to number lines to help with division. So, say, start at twelve and ask how many lots of 3 can you get out of it. Then count back in threes four times. This will help with the idea of "chunking" when he gets on to long division.

We have been doing lots of timestable work sheets. A column a day.

I focused on the easy ones first. Then supplemented with Hit the Button. We did a grid and she had to get 5 right in the time, then 10 , 15, stopped at 21. On the more difficult ones I would say what row the answer was in.

Division I am finding so hard to teach. Im teaching as sharing, but she struggles with any maths that is written in sentances that she needs to problem solve.

Im starting at year 2 work but think ill be teaching through rote.

Looking at what she must cover this year, we haven't even started time, fractions, money. All which she struggles with.

Also doing 20 minutes a day of Power of 2 books which are great.

Above takes about an hour a day. She was below where expected on last report so im worried. Doing it before I start work.

With word problems I don't know whether it is just practice, practice, practice?

Y3.

@icenisky I feel for you on the division and time etc. As pp my DD is 12 in y7. She's really really bad at maths but somehow passed the y2 sats so didn't get any extra help. I tried everything, Addacus, power of 2, Nessy, doodle maths etc etc. I don't know if it's just that she's ready or the way they explain it but we've been doing smartick everyday for a month now. It's pricey, but its been the best thing I've done maths wise. There is a free trial I would highly recommend. It's only 15mins a day and you cant help her so for me it's a bit of a sigh of relief as maths is normally very intense 1:1. (you can't do more than 15mins other than the games). She finally understands time and fractions and is much more willing to practise her number bonds which we have to do by rote. A helpful game we have is: I print off the number bonds eg 2+5 and stack them up. I put one down and she gets a 10 second head start. Whoever gets the answer first wins. The winner is the person with the most cards. We will do this with playing cards once she gets more confident.
We do 3x20 mins sessions of maths a day since the lockdown. Her attitude to maths has completely changed.

The Maths Factor - Carol Voderman. It is excellent for times tables. Short video lessons / tips and lots of games and practice.

I love tech but sometimes there's just no substitute for the old paper and pencil, once he's written them out a few times, he'll know it