10 yr old ($th class) - problems with multiplication tables

(Edit title - 4th class)

Im hoping that someone here maybe able to give some guidance and suggestions. My 10yr old neice seems to be having a very hard time grasping the concept of multiplication tables.

She is a very bright pupil, scoring well over 80%+ in all recent assessments (She got 78percentile in maths) and has no problems whatsoever with addition, subtraction, etc but she cannot grasp the actual concept / theory of multplication at all. Her parents have spoken to the teacher, who has encouraged her refer to the times tables written in the back of the book to keep up (?!) (It is a small rural school with limited number of teachers and resources, the class teacher seems to 'enjoy' maths and they can often do maths for 2 HOURS in the school day).

It is at the stage where she is very upset and frustrated and is dreading going into maths lessons.

Can anyone recommend any additional books / activities / approaches we can try to help her with this? She already does additional maths work from a second book with her parents in the evening to try and help but she still cannot grasp the conecpt.

All help and links appreciated, thanks.

We started multiplication in 3rd class. Only reason I remember is the nun I had used to make us stand around in a circle and shout questions at us like " 7 fours" and point at someone and if you got it right you got to sit down but if you got it wrong you had to stand for the rest of the day!

Anyway I am not suggesting this. Is it that she doesnt understand why you might multiply something? Maybe start giving her examples of things to help her understand how it could be useful. Something in the news might help for example the woman who just had octuplets in america. Explain that this woman has 8 babies and very little time so instead of adding up what she needs she can save time and multiply.

Perhaps have her draw 8 babies and then things a baby might need in a day so 8 nappies each for example and then if 1 baby needs 8 nappies how many do 8 need so show her to go to the 8 times table and 8 times 8 is 64. You could also get her to add it up as well so she understands that the answer if right and then go on using examples like this

My 10-year-old hates maths, and in particular multiplication tables also.
I found this resource recently, and we've started working to what it recommends: http://www.col-ed.org/cur/math/math02.txt

Basically, you learn the 'easy' ones first - 0, 1, 2, 5, 10, 11
then there are some nice tricks to learn others - they are all listed in the link.

Then I googled for some nice colourful posters, which we've printed and taped up in his bedroom - hopefully osmosis will play its part!

I also find that once the class moves onto a new concept, to make time to go over it with the child straight away, as it's not always possible for every child in a class of 30 - 32 to grasp it immediately. My son still doesn't like maths, but he's getting more confident about the subject which is great.

There are some ideas here for teaching the concept of multiplication: http://www.mathcats.com/grownupcats/ideabankmultiplication.html

[broken link removed]

I had the same problem recently when they moved onto division... sometimes teachers just don't seem to understand that it's the most basic concept that the kids aren't grasping.

I'm afraid that I can't give you any advice on the actual concept, but the tried and tested method over generations seems to be simply learning the tables by repetition. It is something we carry with us through life and not just something the kids need for their curriculum and to help with the mental and written aritmetic.

What I have found is they start doing the tables maybe in 2nd Class and learn them and forget a little the next year and re-learn them and maybe forget again. While it may seem that she has problems with the actual concept maybe your Niece is frustrated because she tought she knew them and finds she has forgotten them? We have a little sing-song thing of the tables in the car on the way to school of the table of the week to be tested. The only other suggestion I can offer is for her family to work together at home by drawing up columns of coloured in squares and circles of say 8 rows or 8's etc. which she can add manually or use the information on the table's.

I came across this article recently about a condition called dyscalculia which I had never heard of before but may be relevant for your niece.

I remember the old fashioned Table Book, and looking at the rows and columns. It showed me how numbers work, because you could see how each computation changed the answer.

We learned the tables " off by heart " for home work. My Grandmother would make up rhymes for the ones I couldn't remember. E.g., Nine 8s was one, until she said " Nine Eights Are Seventy Two, Marty's Car Is Coloured Blue "

Thank God our neighbour had a blue car or I might never have learned it.

Have a go at the rhyming.

You need to focus on skip counting with her - 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 etc. Let her use her fingers to help her. Keep doing this in order - 2s, then 4s, then 8s are the first group. 5s and 10s are the second. Then 3s, 6s and 9s. Leave 7s to the end. Children do not have to learn x11 or x12 any more even though the 11s are very easy.
Take her through the 100 square (google splat square) and let her mark off the ones she knows - counting in 2s, 5s and 10s is very easy.
There is a counting stick method explained on www.educationposts.ie or www.anseo.net which is supposed to be excellent although I have never used it. The main thing is cofidence here - tables will be done all the way to 6th class so it's just about putting in a little ground work now.

Incidentally, there is very little theory behind the concept of multiplication bar the fact that it is simply repeated addition - keep giving her loads of sums. 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 is the same as 4 groups of 2 - 4 x 2.

gillarosa said:

the tried and tested method over generations seems to be simply learning the tables by repetition. It is something we carry with us through life and not just something the kids need for their curriculum and to help with the mental and written aritmetic.

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Totally agree - had a real problem myself with this - was like some sort of numeric dyslexia and it was at this stage that my maths began to slip. My primary school teacher mum was perplexed I was scoring so well in essays etc., yet was bottom of the class in maths.

Her solution was borne of desperation but ultimately worked - she got me learn all the tables off by heart until I could say them in my sleep. I still do my times tables in my head more than 30 years later for basic calculations.

It became less important to understand the concept behind 5x4 and more important to just know that the answer's 20 and move on to the next one in the knowledge that the sum is correct and I was keeping up with the class. The learning was made easier by the fact that reversing the figures - i.e. 4x5 - gave the same result. My mum sold this method to me on that basis and it made me feel a lot better that I could actually get it right this way. I'm sure your nieces confidence would be boosted too.

There aren't many of them, but I think this is an example where the traditional 'learn by rote' method works better for some children.

i get why the whole learning off is a great idea for most but having had a dyslexic brother (undiagnosed for a long time) battle learning off anything i think you need to go easy for a while. some dyslexics find it so hard to learn tunes because they don't recognize the rhyme or sequence and it is very frustrating for them to learn off anything. I would ask the teacher does she display any other learning issues - like not being able to follow a list of orders in the sequence they are given for example.
the teacher loving maths is a good thing, at least she is imparting a positive approach to maths. hopefully. unfortunately for the child its often the case that those with learning disabilities are clever and notice when they are not as quick as others in the class at stuff.

Dear Plek Trum.

Not an easy situation for either your niece or her parents. Parents need to stay calm, if not their anxiety (which is understandable will rub off on their daughter).

She is obviously a bright girl, given the other information you have included.

I'd suggest the following......

a) Select something she is really interested in, something she likes, dolls, books, anything she really likes...

b) Stay away from the mulitplication tables initially ...

c) Start by bundling (I'll use books as the example) the books in to say small bundles e.g. 3 bundles of two books - get her to tell her parents how many books she sees - she'll probably tell them she added 2+2+2. Begin from there by showing & explaining the muliplication concept that they have 3 bundles with two books in each and that 3 x 2 = 6

d) Now produce the tables and just show her that one sum 3x2 = 6

e) play around with another few (easy examples & take it slowly) - showing her how the adding piece and the muliplication piece lead to the same answer each time - and show her the sum in the tables...

f) Hopefully, by easing her in to the process slowly like this, rather than rattling off tables by rote, she'll logic it out for herself...

It worked (with dinky cars) many years ago for my young lad....

Hope that helps...


BM