Mathematics 

It's Times Tables Challenge Time

Tuesday 24th Stage 2 and 3 will be participating in the times tables challenge.

What Can You Do at Home to Prepare Your Child?

Firstly, find out which tables they know and don't know

It makes sense to take stock of where your child is with tables before trying to help them. Start with the 2s, 5s, 10s, 11s and go back for the rest. 

So Let's Start Learning Tables

Think of the times tables like a daunting climbing wall - when you're a first-timer standing at the foot looking up it's scary - but once you start making a few hand and foot holds it gets much easier.

This diagram shows the 81 times tables multiplication facts that every child needs to commit to memory - we'll leave the 11 and 12x tables aside for a moment.

It's tempting to think that being able to answer the times tables and mastering them is the same thing. Unfortunately, they aren't.

Children need to be able to recall any times tables answer within two or three seconds - preferably in one second. That leaves no time for counting the way up to the answer from 2x, 3x, 4x etc - the answer has to pop out of memory pretty much instantly.

It sounds harsh but this level of "number fluency" is the ideal foundation for any child

What are the Methods for Learning Tables?

• Stick to one times table at a time to minimise confusion
• Start with chanting and writing them out slowly in order
• Then move on to completing the answers quickly in order - on paper or verbally with your child
• Finally, move on to completing the answers in any order
• Keep reminding your child that 3 x 4 is the same as 4 x 3 - this effectively halves the number of tables facts
• Each times table has a square number 3x3, 7x7  etc ( see the coloured numbers in the tables grid above ). These are special "hand or foot holds" that can act as memory hooks - emphasize them!
• Talk about the numbers as you encounter them "5 x 8 = 40 that's mummy's age" ,  "3 x 6 = 18 that's our house number" . . .  this makes more memory hook

One great online tool is timestables.com.

It is one activity that we encourage the students to use. They will rush to the games but that is not helpful they need to progress through the activities to get the most from this website.

Here are some of our students using different activities to memorise their multiplication facts in class.