Times tables - how long does the torture continue for at your school?

[anthonytrollopesrevenge]

We've done times tables tests weekly (well it feels like I've done them though in reality it's DS) all through yr 3 and now they are doing them EXACTLY the same in yr 4. DS and I are bored and fed up. Can someone please put us out of our misery and encourage us by letting us know that the tables are likely to stop sometime soon and be replaced by something more interesting, or does the nightmare continue throughout primary?

Why's it a nightmare?

If DS knows them, then he doesn't need to practice them.

They should continue through primary.

It never ends...

If they are not practised, they are likely to be forgotten. If they are remembered, then doing a 'tables test' should not be too arduous. I am not sure why you are bored and fed up though.

I'm still waiting for them to start! Ds is P3 age 7 and homework is odd and even numbers. Surely they should be past this?

It's only when you stand in front of a class of 17 year olds, watching their blank expressions and surreptitious counting on fingers when you repeat "What's 5 times 6?" that you realize just how important those times tables are.

If you know something in year one and aren't going to forget it it is extremely dull to keep doing it until year 6. Some kids just have a knack for numbers, and it is not good to keep making them repeat things.

casawas, I would say that there is no rush for them to start. Getting the hang of odd and even numbers and addition facts is far more important in P3. If they learn them now, particulary the younger ones, thet are not going to have a great deal of understanding and will easily forget, only having to start again from scratch in P4.

snailoon, I would say that when my DS was at primary, they did seem to go through a cycle of learn/forget/learn/forget. Once children have learn their tables, they can obviously keep that knowlegde fresh by doing a variety of calculations using that tables knowledge.

it will continue forever for my poor son, he'll never get them - though to be honest how important are they really in adulthood?

According to my friend, who teaches maths in secondary school, emphasis is not put on quick recall in the same way as it is in primary schools.

Thank Fucking God for that.

That's because the secondaries expect them to have the quick recall by then, not because they don't think it matters. You will usually find that secondaries don't fuss as much about the spelling either.
However, lack of both will hold your child back in exams.
New targets were children to have recall of all tables by the end of Y4.

Well, dd hasn't had a single times table test yet, and she is in yr 5. They are apparantly told in school that they should learn them, and that's the end of it.

I drill dd in hers and practice mental arithmetic with her - which is a lot harder than it would be if she had to learn them for school, as there's no external incentive to work on them. Some other parents do the same I know, others with less time / energy / more kids probably don't.

Iamnotminterested that's because they expect it to be taught in primary

OP it stops when they know them reliably

"though to be honest how important are they really in adulthood?"

I can't understand why you say that. I still find that I need to mentally work things out, and knowing my tables is very useful. Besides, it helps to know your tables when you are testing your children. What kind of role model would you be if you don't know the answer yourself?

I would agree that they're hugely important in adulthood - surely there are loads of times when you need to do a quick mental calculation and knowing your tables is part of that?

It continues until they know them.