Mathematics 

Time Tables Challenge

On Monday 1st of July we will be holding our annual times tables challenge. This is a morning of times tables fun that we hold for the primary students' each year so they can showcase their multiplication talents. Below we can see last years winners Zeb Allan (5/6)  Sienna Thompson (3/4) and most improved Phoebe Farrant-Wills (5/6) and Logan Allan (3/4) with their medals.

I was very proud of Sienna Thompson last year because she was not the strongest times tables student in my class. Sienna really wanted to do well in this competition so she practiced at home (A LOT) and we can all see her success as she won the competition. 

Things you can do at home

It’s the age-old question parents have asked since the dawn of time(s tables): “Are there any ways of making learning times tables fun?” Mastering times tables is a vital skill that children must should learn before they enter high school and thus it is important that parents try to find fun ways to teach times tables.

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 - so how do we get there?

1. Start with the easier times tables – we start with the twos

Getting the twos right establishes a pattern of understanding how one column of a table moves up one number at a time, and the other in multiples. So, if your child is having trouble with tables, time taken to build confidence with the 2 times table will often be the key to learning the rest.

2. Chart on the toilet wall

Hang up the chart in a place your child will see it regularly – the toilet is one example. That way, every time they visit this room they will be exposed to the tables.3

3. Listen to some fun songs

What’s a great way to get information stuck in someone’s head? Yep, that’s right! Catchy music! 

4. Make a multiplication wheel

One for the creative kids. Children start this activity by drawing the centre of the flower, in which they write the times table out. They then draw 12 petals around the centre, with each petal containing the numbers 1 through 12.

The last step is to draw another set of 12 petals which contain the answer to the centre number multiplied by the petals.

5. A pack of cards/dice

Take out the aces and Kings, count Jack as 11 and Queen as 12, and you can practise the full range of tables by dealing your child two cards and asking them to multiply them. Throw 2 dice and have the children multiply the numbers.

6. Timestables.com

This is a great website to help children with their multiplication.