Is your child struggling with learning their times tables? Find out how you can help them master multiplication at home!
As a parent, you want everything to be the best for your child so you strive to help them in every way that you can. Your child's future and success depend on their ability to master the fundamentals of learning at school, and one of the fundamentals is mastering times tables.
Being a parent, you might be wondering: "How exactly can I help my child learn their times tables?". Learning times tables is an essential skill for children to develop in their early years of schooling. In addition, it is important to note that students start learning their times tables from kindergarten.
As parents, it’s important to discover the many possible ways to teach times tables to your children as early as you can. If your children know their timetables by memory, it becomes a lot easier for them to master multiplication and many other skills in Math later down the road. Times tables are useful in all facets of life, including school, and after school. Moreover, it helps your young ones become more organized, responsible and self-accountable.
Wondering how to teach your children times tables? In today's article, we’re going to share with you some effective and creative ways to teach times tables to your children in Years 2 to 7. From these strategies that we’ve outlined, you can make learning times tables at home fun and engage your children to be more productive in life. Just read on!
Importance of Times Table in Academic Life: A Quick Overview!
Times tables are one of the essential parts of learning basic math and a strong grip on them can make solving problems a piece of cake for Year 2-7 students. From simple arithmetic to algebra, calculus, and trigonometry, teaching times tables will be a major part of learning any field related to or consisting of mathematical problems.
Thus, for both parents and kids, it may be comfortable to have a well-structured timetable in place. Being an effective student means making the most of your time by prioritizing the tasks that are most critical to your success. For the most part, kids who are in Years 2 to 7 typically don’t have an organized study plan and those who do fail to stick to the plan that they've devised. This is why parents' support is crucial!
Importance of Teaching Time Tables in Daily Life
We might not be able to use the Pythagoras theorem that often, but multiplication is a part of many daily tasks. Not only this, but your child’s growing years revolve around mastering this skill. Once learned, times tables help develop your child’s occipital lobe of the brain which results in better communication, a better understanding of patterns and much more.
From understanding accounting, finance and taxes to daily life activities like shopping, budgeting, calculating insurance, understanding these activities require strong understanding and application of times tables. Furthermore, these skills help a person throughout the years in ways least expected.
Top 4 Tips When Teaching Times Tables to Your Kids
1) Parents' Active Involvement Can Do Wonders!
The book “How Children Learn” by the International Bureau of Education states that the active involvement of parents and social participation is vital for learning in primary education. Try to drill the tables by separating some time of the day for this activity and avoid simply reading them or showing your child a video of reading the times table. A suggestion may be to conduct quick and short quizzes to test your child on certain multiplication facts while implementing a reward system. In addition, if you can spare 10-15 minutes of your day to teach your child using practical examples such as counting real money, it can do wonders for their learning growth!
2) Revision, Revision, and More Revision
Most mathematical operations need to be understood multiple times to truly commit to memory, and times tables are no different. Be consistent in teaching times tables with your child and repeat them often. Your child may need to write out their times tables in order at first before attempting randomised times table questions. In addition, you can also help your child to learn each multiplication fact by helping them to identify and practice their number patterns. For instance, in the 12 times tables, remembering that you can count upwards of 12 by first adding 10 then 2 can help (12 plus 10 is 22, 22 plus 2 is 24!).
3) Work Your Way Up
Most schools teach up to 12 x 12 and the way to do it is by starting easy. Start with the 1's, 10's, then 5's, 2's and finally the others. The first ones do not require much understanding of how multiplication works and are great for the introduction. You can start teaching them in ascending order until your child is familiar with all the timetables and how the numbers pile up.
4) Introducing Games and Tricks!
Games can be a great idea to get your child into the process and using things like charts and blocks is great for visual learning. However, teaching times tables cannot be simplified as easily as summation. Using things like the “multiplication flower” and “the hands trick for 9s” are great for memorisation once your child is familiar with some concepts.
Final Thoughts on Teaching Multiplication to Kids
Teaching times table require a long consistent effort but are worth the effort. Remember to always be patient as learning is a process and we've all gone through it. Allow and encourage your child to practice on their own and do not be afraid to ask for help.
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