Times tables

[sherrardk]

Does anyone know of any good resources (can be web based) for getting our eldest son up to speed on his times table. He is already stressing about his SATs (year 6) and is most concerned about his tables. (We are going to practice the rote method, even though I think the school should have done it this way in the first place.) Thanks

[sophie_1003]

I was stressing about times tables for my QTS Skill Tests for the same reason as your son I'm guessing (because I hadn't been taught the rote method) So I just practised and practised and if I didn't get the answer straight away I'd move on to the next one and make a note of the one I couldn't answer (e.g. 5x8=?) I soon realised that actually there was only a few I didn't know because I ended up with the same calculation for two sets of tables e.g. 6x8 and 8x6 so learnt those ones by heart and went back through again till I got it. 8s and 6s are my worst ones!

[sherrardk]

I'm rubbish at 8's. He has been in tears tonight about it all. He has had two days of this week (he suffers from glue ear) and they sent work home for him and then made him do work on the bus to and from swimming and at the pool (as he didn't go swimming because of his ears). He is in a class with about only seven others boys (the rest are girls - obviously) and I get the impression that he is the brightest boy in the class (worried that they are expecting him to do well for the county's league tables, etc). He takes things very seriously and I am quite worried about it all - he can't be like this till May.

[sophie_1003]

Aww bless; maths always reduced me to tears; was nearly in tears in a maths lesson at uni not long back actually! I think when people expect certain things that can be half the problem; could you ask the school to lay off a bit on the guarantee that you'll be doing extra work with him at home?

[boxtops]

sherrard, have a look here, would this help? http://www.bbc.co.uk/...lication/timestables/

[albaqwerty]

ooh sherr nasty one I also hate 8's. There's a trick with 9's. Please try to let him relax and not stress. Easier said than done I know x

[DTCwordfan]

I think rote is excellent but combine it with the logic of groups of the number you are using so this can act as a failsafe.

A few years back my eldest and I were doing rote multiplication on the 5 times-table in the car. I asked what's 7 x 5 and a little voice directly behind me (age 4) came out with "35, Daddy, thats seven groups of five".....her IQ is very high by the way.....but I was still gobsmacked - the point being she had the logic aboard already

[DTCwordfan]

sorry the little voice was my younger daughter! I am tiring!

[sherrardk]

Thanks all - he is a worrier (as the eldest he seems to be old before his years). When something is wrong, he bottles it up and it takes ages to get it out of him (and then he feels better). I think the school expect a lot of him because we are both ex-teachers and because he is very adult in his views (but not in a bratty way - in a knows a bit about lots of different stuff way). I might have a word with his teacher but the school think I am a bit of a complainer (I'm not - I just don't suffer fools gladly).

[4getmenot]

nines are the easiest. just hold all fingers up and say its 2 nines ut second finger down and count fingers to left of it - 1, and fingers to right 8 answer 18

[DaisyNonna]

Sher, Google times tables and then go to skillwise.
Fun ways to help .

[albaqwerty]

they also add up to 9 4get :D

9 x 9 = 81 and so on and so forth

[boxtops]

That's the link I suggested, daisynonna - excellent site.

[4getmenot]

yes they do but this is showing what numbers actually add up to 9

[Buenchico]

When getting youngsters to learn tables it's often useful to stress the commutativity of multiplication.

For example, assuming that a child has been learning his tables 'in order', he might be competent up to his 7 times table but he's then faced with learning his 8 times table. That can seem to be a rather daunting lot of new information to take on board but, if you point out that he already knows many of the answers the task will seem much easier.

For example, you can point out that he doesn't need to lean what two eights are because he already knows what eight twos are. Similarly the answers to three eights, four eights, five eights, six eights and seven eights are things that he already knows the answers to because they're included in the tables which he's already learnt. So learning his 8 times table will then involve hardly any new knowledge at all

Chris

PS: I hope that your 7 year old lad had a really lovely birthday yesterday (and that you're gradually recovering from the day!)

[Halifaxmum]

I really don't mean to be funny, but just let him do what he does at school. Schools don't do the rote like we used to, they don't need to (in the world of work)

Is it a good school? If it is, he'll be fine. If not, move him in to a good one.

Halifax son was bullied so bad he had to leave school from year 7 to year 8, but is now in a good school in year 9 and has already achieved GCSE grade passes !!!

Please don't pressurise him - there is more to life - if he's got the intelligence, and you can get him in a good school, he'll be ok.

[mike11111]

I like Chris's suggestion re commutativity of multiplication. Assuming he knows all the others, he can always say to himself, '7 x 8 = 8 x 7 = 56'. Because I was schooled in the era of pre-decimal currency and imperial measurement, we were required to learn our tables up to 12 x 12.

[Halifaxmum]

as was i mike, but i don't think it's a necessity now, but i do think that high school young people have enough to deal with, without worrying about not knowing their times tables

[mike11111]

I used to teach maths, albeit only up to age 16, and found that the reason many pupils struggled with calculations was that they did not know the tables off by heart. We knew them all by the age of 8, chanting them by rote. This can be fun for young kids, especially when given individual little treats for being able to chant a table correctly. Similarly we learnt the alphabet by the age of 5 by chanting it rhythmically in a sing-song voice which I still remember. I recall one of the older tutors on my PGCE course, who was not over-enamoured of modern educational theory, saying, "My motto is 'learn first, understand later' ". This advice has always stood me in good stead.

[Halifaxmum]

but, unfortunately, we are not back in the 80s or 70s, the young people now have so much more to deal with.
I know Halifax son may not know his times tables like we did, but he kicks my arse at University Challenge.
He is only just 14 (our old Year 3 at big school) and has already achieved an A-C grade pass GCSE level in English! So the education system can't be that bad, can it!?!

[Buenchico]

I'm in agreement with Mike here.

I also used to teach maths (mainly to GCSE but also to A-level for a few years). I regarded it as vital that all of my pupils had a thorough knowledge of their tables. For example, when solving
9x = 72
it's important that pupils can immediately write down
<=> x = 8
without even thinking about it.
If they have to reach for a calculator it breaks their train of thought and then end up concentrating on arithmetic when they need to be concentrating on algebra.

Boxtops is a maths teacher and I feel sure that she'd agree.

Chris