Learning times tables

[purpleme12]

My child needs to practice her times tables
This TT rockstar thing is no good cos she gets some wrong cos she just guesses cos she wants to do it fast like you're supposed to then cos she gets them wrong she gets really angry (like she does at many things at the minute but by the by)
Any tips on learning times tables to help her

My son hated times table rock stars until they made a game mode which isn't timed. He's much happier on it now. He also likes the number rock time tables songs on YouTube, but he still needs to use TTRockstars to check he can recall them out of order.

Oh ok so there's a way you can do it so it's not timed on TT rock stars?

Thank you I'll have a look at this YouTube thing as well

Lots of online timestables games.

Games like Bingo or Pairs (Pelmanism) are also great.

Yes there is a training bit of tt rockstars which isn’t timed and is great for practise - children select which times tables to practise so build up with ones confident on first. Playing non online games are good too - create bingo/ matching pairs can help and be fun. Also know kids who like these www.amazon.com/Lakeshore-Learning-Materials-SG_B004ZAKHHM_US-Multiplication/dp/B004ZAKHHM?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I just asked my son and he plays it on "jamming" mode.

Singing in the car

So we started learning our times tables using TTRS.
I found the best one to start with was Garage.

Basically they start off with just the 2 times tables. Then when you know them all it moves onto 5 and so on.

On the main page there is a heat map of the times tables that shows the ones your kid is doing. The red coloured are the ones they've answered slowly. And the greener ones the ones they can answer faster. And they just keep repeating the same few times tables until the child knows them and then move onto the next one.

So slowly they go through the tables til 12. And then it goes through again and again starting from 2. To make the colours change from red/ orange to green.

Garage is timed though.

Then there is jamming where you can choose what times tables you want to learn, the amount to do and whether you want to do multiplication and/ or division. Not times. We did this when I thought Garage had moved too fast onto the next lot of timestables to give some extra practice on the older lot.

My daughters school keep telling them to do Studio to try and improve their status- rock legend/ newbie. But the questions were from all the timestables and she would just get them all wrong and really frustrated.

So instead we concentrated on Garage and now when she attempts Studio she does much better.

Ah I'll have to have another look at this jamming thing then
They're just doing this TT rockstar at school for how fast people can do it all and I don't know if other people are further on than my child
I think it's too much for my child cos she wants to do it fast for the competition. Really what we need to be concentrating on is whether it's right or not

Search on YouTube for times tables songs and also times tables fables. Hit the button is fun and there’s lots of other games you can find if you Google! www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

If confidence is an issue then you can always print out a multiplication square or list of times tables which you can use as support and then take away when they feel more confident?

Thank you I will look at all these

I don't think it's confidence really. I think she doesn't know them. But she can get really frustrated when it comes to school work (when doing it at home anyway) if it's challenging for her and if she gets things wrong so it's going to be one of those things I think...

But I think I will get something put up in her room so she can look at it too

@Jjjaaakkk

Singing in the car

Us too! With a cd from Woolworths and the most awful songs! 😖 before smart phones and apps were popular, but it worked.

Most people don’t just know every single one off by heart. Teaching strategies to work out the ones she’s iffy on quickly is a definitely worthwhile.

@PurpleDaisies

Most people don’t just know every single one off by heart. Teaching strategies to work out the ones she’s iffy on quickly is a definitely worthwhile.

I was never that great at times tables to be honest and still aren't on all of them

I am currently doing the jamming with her on TT rock stars.
But she is scared that her teacher will tell her off because apparently they're supposed to do it on the timed bit. Pisses me off that school have instilled this into her. No good doing it fast if you can't do it

Try a basic 100 square and focus on 1 table at a time pointing to each "station" and reinforcing each time you add 2 on...
If your DC isn't confident in the number bonds it will make things harder. Another strategy is "grouping" use any small items and lay out in bundles or groups of 2, 3, etc. Say each time we are counting on in 3's, 5's etc. You can say, "3 two's are.... Count it out as 2, 4, 6..
TTR doesn't work for lots of kids, might be presenting the info in the wrong way for their learning.. Could be too stimulating, could be language isn't the same eg" what are three fours"sounds different to "4 times 3 is"
I'd go basic, cut out the white noise of Digital and check understanding of counting and number bonds is there, then use small items and write the sum under items. Kids in my class use old boxes or chalks to dcount Lego (same sized bits) or cars or dried butter beans.

What I would do is go through with her and try and find some she’s finding particularly tricky and come up with some ways she could work them out.

For example, lots of people struggle with 7x8. I remember it is 56 because I’ve really focussed on learning that one because I always forget it. If she knows 7x7 = 49, 7x8 must be 7 more so she could add that on.

If she knows 3x4 but not 4x3, practising swapping the numbers around so she realises she can use a fact that she knows to get to the answer.
That sort of thing.

My daughters school keep telling to do the Studio part of TTRS. But there really was no point. She was just getting them all wrong.

So we would just do Garage instead as it slowly works through them.

If they make an issue of just speak to them.
They aren't going to learn anything when they have over 200 different sums asked of them at random

If you’re not timing then print out a times tables square and get her to look them up as she goes. Google images will have one you can use. As she gets used to using one she will get faster at looking them up.
Songs are also good. It is a pain learning them but they are so vital for fractions, dividing etc so if she can crack them it’ll help her with all the other stuff.
Good luck

On TTRS, go on the Jamming one because you can choose the tables and it’s not timed.

Maybe a visual aid like buying a 100 square or printing one out and marking off the numbers.

But she is scared that her teacher will tell her off because apparently they're supposed to do it on the timed bit. Pisses me off that school have instilled this into her. No good doing it fast if you can't do it

As a teacher, I would rather a child struggling to learn their tables practised as much as possible but without worrying how fast they are.

Car journeys, walk, bike rides, over dinner, any random moment it occurred to anyone else in the vicinity of the kids. Times tables, division, adding, subtracting, roots, squares, percentages, fractions or logic problems.... all are fair game. My kids are almost 17 and 20 and we still do it.

Thank you everyone for the ideas
Currently looking up songs!
She's fixating on the fact that the teacher said 'you should know these straightaway' , and the fact that she doesn't

Give her something physical to play with. Beads or bits of pasta. Let her put them in groups and make patterns with them. For some kids, the physicality of manipulating objects, helps to cement concepts.

Ds learnt over lockdown dancing with me to these

www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers/times-table-collection/z4vv6v4

I used to do it in the car, on short journeys. Sometimes I Would ask questions, other times I would play a dvd.A few minutes in the car somehow made it less onerous. It could be as little as ten questions.