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Do you know your Times Tables?

49 replies

homefitness · 28/09/2010 23:34

Ok thoughts - todays child and last years child......Which one knows their Times Tables better- off by heart?

Answer - I think is the child of the past......More and more I think children do not learn the way they, or should I say we learned it!!

OP posts:
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WowOoo · 29/09/2010 10:32

I know mine as I chant them to myself when i'm trying to sleep or if I'm bored.

addictedtochocolate · 29/09/2010 10:41

I do mine mainly by adding / subtracting / working out but still managed to be the first in my Year 5 class to finish the wall chart back in the late 70s (lasting memory: I just beat Peter who ended up doing maths at Oxbridge :) ). The end of my maths career was A at AO level. I feel my mental maths is pretty good. So for me it's the understanding that is important even though I was supposed to learn them by rote. DD started to learn hers much earlier, "counting in 2s" in reception. She is also taught the patterns ect rather than just learning by rote.

hmc · 29/09/2010 11:35

Piscesmoon - are you one of those teachers that PopCrackleSnap is referring too? What do you suggest for dyslexic children? (1 in 10, often undiagnosed)- or are they just square pegs who should be made to fit round holes?

hmc · 29/09/2010 11:39

Wow that sounds aggressive! - apologies. Question stands though - what is your approach with dyslexic children in your class

Lizcat · 29/09/2010 13:19

As a dyslexic I thank the maths teacher every day who pushed me to learn my tables for two reasons. Firstly through both my degrees repetition became my best friend and was the main way I learnt.

Secondly calculating drug dosages daily whilst I use the calculator to get the exact dose, but the knowledge of times tables allows me a quick mental check of the answer.

MaudOHara · 29/09/2010 13:35

I know them off by heart but DS really struggled - we found this approach really helpful

hmc · 29/09/2010 14:18

I am sure you don't need to be told Lizcat that dyslexia is a broad spectrum condition and not all dyslexics irrespective of 'pushing' by maths teachers, can learn times tables by rote

posey · 29/09/2010 14:47

I know all mine. Learnt them 35 years ago (we did up to 6x plus 5, 10 and 11 by 1st year junior then the rest by 2nd year.
Dh didn't learn them very well and wishes he had.

I don't remember struggling to get dd to learn them, I think she found it quite easy (lucky girl) and at 13 she knows them all.
We are now getting ds to learn them, he needs far more help, though actually think he just tends to panic. He's in y3 and they're really big on learning them this year.

SofaQueen · 29/09/2010 19:24

I know mine. I learned through my father's recitation method which he learned from his own father. I was trying the softly-softly approach this summer with DS1 when my father intervened (we were staying with him) and took over. He went back to the old recitation method 10 minutes a day method and DS had his tables memorized cold in 2 weeks.

CloudsAway · 29/09/2010 21:31

hmc, it might be hard for dyslexics to learn by rote in terms of verbally reciting the tables, but there are other ways that still lead to knowing them by heart. There was a discussion of this on another thread just the other day, so I won't repeat what I said there, but it's easy for people to assume that 'instant recall' means being able to recite them aloud, but it doesn't. If you google things like 'visual memory' and times tables, or 'multisensory' and times tables, you will find lists of methods that are very helpful for people without good verbal memory, including visual methods, finger tricks, and so on. If you can visualise answers, that's as immediate access as being able to say them.

It's also possible to work on rapid recall, timed tests, flash cards, repetitive games, etc, without humiliating dyslexic children - it doesn't have to be done in public, or in a competitive way.

If all else fails, a printed table square that a child can easily access can be very useful - sometimes it is easier just to get the answer and then get on with solving the problem or understanding the concept being taught, than to try to work out an answer by using one of the counting out methods, or one of the calculating methods, because those can depend so heavily on sequencing skills. Some dyslexic children are fine with that, especially if they have a good understanding of maths, but others can find the number of steps, and the numnber of extra numbers that they have to 'hold' in their heads, very confusing.

megapixels · 29/09/2010 22:30

We did the learning by rote and had to chant them to the teacher from 2x to 12x. If you made a mistake you had to learn it and then go back and do the whole thing. A few of us were kept after lessons to finish learning up, standing up as extra punishment.

I do know the times tables but I work out some of them in my head. I can do it very quickly though so it looks like I do it through memory.

megapixels · 29/09/2010 22:31

Sorry, too many extra words in my post. I need my sleep now.

JaynieB · 29/09/2010 22:32

I couldn't do them as a child and I can't do them now! I'm not that bad at maths generally though.

hmc · 01/10/2010 00:05

Thank you CloudsAway

nappydays · 01/10/2010 17:51

My 9 and 11 year old know them much better than I. If I have any Maths calculation to do I just ask one of them to do it for me (in the guise of practising of course...)

Over40 · 02/10/2010 20:33

The revised framework says that children should know all thier tables (1-10) by the end of year 3. The biggest mistake I think is not teching the division facts at the same time. If you get them grasping the concept of the inverse relationship this isn't a problem. If they don't know their tables it really holds them back in year 4 as a lot of the learning objectives require a knowledge of the tables. You can still achieve the objectives but it means you have to put work into learning a new strategy or technique but simultaneously having to work out the multiplication facts you need to make the strategy work..... if you see what I mean!!
I teach a mixed year3/4 class and I put a major focus on the x and / tables... come rote learning but lots of how to find the fact as well if you get stuck. Funny isn't it that (apart from those with specific educational needs) it is generally the ones that put the most effort into learning their tables are the ones that learn them the fastest (not necessarily the brightest ones!).

homefitness · 19/10/2010 19:30

You sound like you know what you are talking about.

Question like Times tables - what other areas of the maths curriculum do you feel kids need to know better or are under achieving these days or does that depend on the child?

OP posts:
sarahfreck · 19/10/2010 21:40

I was tutoring a child this week who is studying equivalent fractions at school at the moment. He told me " I never really used to get division but since you made me learn my tables its really easy".

I still go through them with him at times as I find that although they learn them really well once, if not practised regularly, they can forget again.

TeacherHelen · 27/11/2010 00:17

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet.

Feenie · 27/11/2010 07:59

This poster has never posted before, yet has pulled up 7 threads on tables (some v old) and tried to flog the CD on them

cory · 27/11/2010 10:39

I know my times tables, but dh (highly academic private school) does not. My children know their times tables, because they have been made to learn them at school.

But my students of between 40 and 25 firmly believe that learning things by heart is beyond the capacity of the human brain. My feelings is that teaching has actually been better in the last few years than it was 15 years ago. The current batch of students are far more conscientious about learning things than some I've seen in the past.

And no, I don't want your materials, OP.

onimolap · 27/11/2010 10:55

My DS (dyslexic) has problems with his tables, but can do them even though it's hard for him (has to pause and think hard). DD (still to young for assessment) is beginning to learn them and seems to be finding it much more straightforward.

I think it's worth keeping at it, by any and all means as it helps with maths so much. It's asource of frustration that DS, who has an excellent maths brain, does not do so well in KS2 numeracy, which has a lot of arithmetic, because his processing is different. Itshould (I hope) even out a bit in KS3 when he can use a calculator for arithmetic and use his maths brain for problem solving.

Lydwatt · 27/11/2010 11:22

sorry...I'm confused as my daughter is only y1. Are we saying kids today aren't taught their tables. If so, why are there currently 5 other threads asking how they can help their children learn them? Confused

sue52 · 28/11/2010 12:17

I know mine and my DDs (state primary) learnt theirs at school where they were tested on then regularly. It really helps to know the times tables when children start doing fractions and algebra.

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