8yo dd having trouble learning times tables - tips & help please ?

[Tillyboo]

Apart from chanting, which my dd refuses to do, are there any tried and tested methods for learning the times tables.

DD is very visual. Are there any games, either homemade or available to buy that might help ?

Any advice and suggestions very gratefully received.
Thank You !

I like the BBC games here, they are actually for adults needing basic skills but I have used them with DCs.

We also make everyday things into maths:

Get me two packets of eggs. That's 2x6. How many?
I've got 35 sweets. If there are 5 of us, how many each?

Its a faff but works well. After a bit they can just rattle off the answers autonmatically.

Do they still expect them to chant the tables though? I would get halfway and forget what number I'd got to!

love love love "I ate and ate...." I will be teaching that to DS later who has a real mental block with 8x8 :)

I can highly recommend Timez Attack as well...

kitkat I do the same as you. Never stopped me getting my Masters in Maths... My DS struggles as well as he is dyslexic, plus he is not progressing in the tests as his finemotor skills are letting him down and can't physically write down 50 times tables answers in 3 minutes - how he will get 100 I do not know!!

We had the Ladybird CD. We had it on in the car. A lot. It helped DS1 with his, and DS2 picked them up at the same time even though he's 2 1/2 years younger.

Tillyboo

My DD(1) Year 4 now, is also very visual and loves video games.

Mathz Attack has multiplication and division (inverse multiplication facts) games that reinforce that it is repeated addition (subtraction for division) in a kind of dungeons and dragons format.

You can download the free version (which we found was just fine) or invest in the various add on versions (but these are pricey & just more platforms really).

The game starts with a test to see where your DC is at - and works from there.

The premise is that you are a boy or girl ogre and you race through a castle or dungeon solving multiplication (or division) problems. These are shown visually first (4 x 5 will show 4 blocks of 5 which are counted up) and then the formal sum (presented vertically 4 x 5) is put on the wall and you have to type in the correct answer.

You can download it here: www.bigbrainz.com/indexu.php

It can be a bit stressful and does require a good graphics card and reasonable memory from your computer.

The other game she may enjoy is Tux of Math Command - it's based on the game asteroids. You can select individual multiplication tables (so factors of 4 for instance) and the problems will scroll down the screen and your penguin character blasts them away when you type the correct answer.

Tux has all sorts of maths function practices beyond just multiplication - but really helps review facts & improve speed.

Tux of math command is free and can be downloaded here: tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/tuxmath/

HTH

My dd's both like doing the number squares where you have numbers 2 to 12 down side and top and write the answer in the square.

Dd2 (who will always go for the easy method) wasn't keen on learning them as she "could always work it out by counting up". Then I started to time them and she saw the benefits of knowing them. She learnt them totally in a week of doing a number square a day.

To make it harder you mix the numbers top and side up too.

Just tried downloading the TUX game above, but my security settings said it wasn't a trusted site - anyone else had the same??

I personally would boycott any educational tool that spelled 'Maths' and 'brains' with a 'z'!

Could I just make a plea as a teacher of year 3/4? Please learn the division facts at the same time! Children can really struggle to grasp that division and multiplication are the inverse of one another!
I have found creating arrays on peg boards and then showing how they can use their knowledge of some facts to deduce the others rally works. Eg if I know that 5x5 is 25 then I also know 4x5 and 6x5 by taking away/adding one lot of 5. It helps reinforce the repeated addition element of multiplication. I call it "buy 1 get 2 free"... This way they use what they know already to find the others.

Numbershark is good for lots of maths concepts, not just tables.

I have also used a cd, a tables cube and a tables square for my dyslexic DD.

And I agree with fourcats, make sure your dd understands the concept of multiplication, otherwise it is meaningless.

I really like arcademic skills builder.

www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/

Thanks so much everyone, so many great suggestions !!!
I feel very positive that I will now be able to help dd

Marking my place, some great ideas!

Hi Mrs Baffled and anyone else downloading Tux of Math Command game:

Yes I tried it last night and got the same message - I'm not clear why as nothing has changed in principle, so I downloaded their touch typing game (for DD1 Y4) having to click the box to 'allow' this unregistered site.

DH says registration for the site is early 90s and therefore current security systems may not accept it. We have good quality virus protection on our home computer and have had no issues (so far) if that's any help.

I would have stopped the download but DH was convinced there way no problem so went ahead. We've run a full system scan overnight and a quick check this a.m. and have no issues.

However - I can absolutely understand that it caused worry. My advice would be not to download it unless you also have some form of antivirus protection (e.g. McAfee or Norton) which is very up to date on your computer.

HTH

That's great - thank you :) we have AVG bang up to date - will try later x

Write out twenty tables every day. Give your ds 2 minutes to do as many as possible. Get him to correct any mistakes. If you do this every day you will notice a difference very qickly.

We bought a 12 sided dice at the toyshop for 50p. Over breakfast (or after he's finished and I'm drinking my tea), he will roll dice and tell me that number times by the current times table he's learning... sometimes he gets 1 or 2 and gets smug it's so easy, but then the 8, 7 or 12 comes up and he has to think again. But helps to recall them in random order.

kat, can I just offer a big for your posts! I'm not dyslexic or dyscalculic but am rubbish with "it just is" type learning. I need to know how it works (this gave me immense trouble when doing advanced stats at uni!)

I tend to visualise numbers. This makes it surprisingly easy to do long calculations in my head, but not to recite multiplication tables. I am very sure of 7x9 though, as it was pinned on a sheet of A4 above my bed for quite a long time at age eight!

garlicbutty and any teaching 9s time tables:

A great trick when teaching this is to remind children that the digits in the answers to the 9s times tables always add up to 9.

1 x 9 = 9
2 x 9 = 18 (1+8 = 9)
3 x 9 = 27 (2 +7 = 9)
4 x 9 = 36 (3 + 6 = 9)
5 x 9 = 45 (4+5 = 9)
6 x 9 = 54 (5+4 = 9)
7 x 9 = 63 (6 +3 = 9)
8 x 9 = 72 (7 + 2 = 9)
9 x 9 = 81 (8 + 1 = 9)
10 x 9 = 90 (9 + 0 = 9)
11 x 9 = 99 (9+9 = 18 (but you need to get to one digit so add 1 + 8 = 9)
12 x 9 = 108 (1+0+8 = 9)

also you can see the pattern in the tables from 2 x 9 up to 10 x9 - the answer is always one digit lower than the multiple.

So if you are multiplying 7 x 9 - the answer will begin with 6 and you know that when you add digits within the answer you will get 9 - so what + 6 = 9 - answer is 3 - so 7 x 9 = 63.

The other trick is to hold out your hands face upwards with both pinkies together. Starting at the left hand thumb number each finger 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (the left hand pinkie), next hand from pinkie 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (the right hand thumb).

Now with the nine times tables you can use your digits as a calculator. Fold over the factor you are multiplying 9 by - so say 3 x 9 - fold over finger 3. Count the finger before the folded finger (you get two left of the fold) and count the fingers to the right of the fold (you get seven) - answer is 27. Works for all multiples of 9 up to 10.

The fold trick always works on the principle that the numbers to the left of the folded finger are tens and the number of digits to the right of the folded finger are units. Simple, quick, visual trick.

HTH

Love that finger trick.

Ah, but what if you lose a finger? Then what?! I jest not- my dp is down to 9 1/2 and so his 9x table is all off...

www.tutpup.com free and great fun.

and:

www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/tabletrees.html

My kids like tables of doom by Nessy which is £4 for a membership I think. Also Percy Parker is brilliant

Www.multiplication.com has loads of good games. If your child is a visual learner it also has picture stories for each table fact to help them remember, they sound a bit silly but they can help some children. (find them by going to the fact finder section and clicking on the table fact, then the tab that says 'lesson'. )