How to help DD retain multiplication facts?

[RedSuedeShoes]

DD (4th grade) is seriously struggling to recall multiplication facts and it's making math class/homework really stressful. She can fill out a times table, but not call up a single product when it's needed. With DS1, we just had him do times tables daily till he got it. But she seems to need another approach. Any ideas? We talked about having her do something physical (jump rope, bounce a ball) while reciting facts - I've heard that can help - but haven't tried it yet. What else?

[lalasmama]

For a while, we walked DD through adding the problem instead of multiplying--so, 6x7 would be 6+6+6+6+6+6+6--and then she would add up each step to get the right answer. Took forever sometimes, but it reminded her that "scary" multiplication was really only "easy" adding.

[georgiegirl]

Do you do flash cards? I'm the parent in charge of testing DD's third grade class for multiplication and division facts on a weekly basis. We start with the 1s, then 2s, then 3s, etc. the kids need to master each level before moving up. They need to know the fact within three (long) seconds. After they get through the 12s, then they do mixed multiplication. Teacher also gives them a timed worksheet (not a table) every week. The kids are supposed to do 10 minute of fact practice a night, and it can be flash cards, ipad, anything. With DD, I found that me showing her flash cards worked the best.
Is she better with certain numbers? Are there certain numbers that give her problems? Can she eventually calculate it?

[RedSuedeShoes]

How did I forget flash cards? We made some to use with DS1 years ago, wonder if we still have them....

She can usually eventually add it up (once she calms down and gets over the "scary/can't do it" part) but they are at the point in 4th grade where she really needs to just know it immediately so she doesn't get bogged down. It also just makes her feel generally less confident and more anxious about math to not just have it down pat. There are certain numbers that feel more difficult to her (she mentioned 7s being especially tough) and others that are easier (9s and others).

My DH says she knows the info, but she just gets frizzed out by the stress and lack of confidence. So maybe there's more than multiplication facts that we need to practice (deep breathing!).

Thanks!

[anonomom]

How about music? We've been using this CD to help DD1 memorize her tables:

http://www.amazon.com/Multiplication-Unplugged-Sara-Jordan/dp/B00004S7NG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1425506712&sr=8-3&keywords=multiplication+songs

I'm a tiny bit concerned that it may not help with remembering facts independent of their recitation (remember 7x8 by it self is harder than remembering it after reciting the whole table), but so far it's a pretty easy and painless method.

[nfowife]

we just started doing the free trial of reflexmath.com and it is going pretty well.

[smilequeen]

Do you have an iPad or tablet? My kids love math games for practice instead of writing. For multiplication DS2 is using Mayan Multiplication right now.

[ray7694]

As a teacher I really see drill the most effective way for facts. I would do flashcards everyday with additional game practice.

[inmypjs]

I think it's fine to keep trying drill as has been suggested. Hopefully you'll see improvement. But there is definitely a group of kids who don't learn this way and who struggle with rote memorization and quick recall of facts in isolation. Some kids are much better with narrative (story) or visual (picture/image) memory. You might consider trying some of the story based math programs, like Times Tales or City Creek Press. Visualspatial.org has good ideas for visual learners too.

Bottom line is that two cognitive skills - working memory capacity and processing speed - can really impact math fact recall. Processing speed is generally regarded as fixed. Working memory can be improved somewhat, with interventions, but I've never seen or heard of anything drastic. I personally wish all educators received training in what working memory and processing speed are, so these kids would be better understood. Having difficulty with those two things has nothing to do with intelligence either.

[lines]

How about just starting with a single set of facts at a time (like just the 6s)? I will do quick drills randomly and have them repeat the problem/answer until its ingrained in their memory. I like to do a single set of facts at a time so that its not overwhelming and you can see which ones they already know and which they need to just memorize.

[jren]

My DD is in 5th grade and still doesn't know her facts. We tried everything and practiced daily but never saw any improvement. The best thing for her was multiplication.com. It assigns each number an object, and then uses those to tell a story. She still uses the stories to recall facts. It's not super fast. She also learned the 9s trick, so those are easy for her.


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[Cam&Clay]

Here's what I used to do with my third grade students who seemed to feel that memorizing facts was too huge of a task:

Get a blank times table with all of the numbers filled in. Have her color in the squares for all of the facts she already knows or are super easy to figure out in your head. That usually means coloring in the 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's (I consider 9's to be in that category as well). Once you color all of those squares, there really aren't that many left to have to drill in your head. I found it gave them more confidence when they realized that they already knew so many.

[OKKiddo]

DD (4th grade) is seriously struggling to recall multiplication facts and it's making math class/homework really stressful. She can fill out a times table, but not call up a single product when it's needed. With DS1, we just had him do times tables daily till he got it. But she seems to need another approach. Any ideas? We talked about having her do something physical (jump rope, bounce a ball) while reciting facts - I've heard that can help - but haven't tried it yet. What else?

We're not at multiplication yet but we're building to it (mid 2nd grade) with lots of skip counting exercises. DS1 got hung up a while back with all of the addition subtraction problems because he was using his fingers for each problem. He just couldn't seem to retain the math facts beyond a couple of days. I went back to how I had been taught addition/subtraction in 1st grade (long time ago, right!) and pulled up a Touch Math chart:https://www.pinterest.com/pin/237424211578736748/ Now DS1 flies through his math problems and has actually managed to master most of his math facts without the need to touch the points to count. I do know touch math can be used for multiplication and division as well so I pulled up a good website that has the videos demonstrating the use: http://www.showme.com/search/?q=touch%20math%20multiplication

Maybe that will help her get over the hump and not be as intimidated by it.

[diamond]

My DD is in 5th grade and still doesn't know her facts. We tried everything and practiced daily but never saw any improvement. The best thing for her was multiplication.com. It assigns each number an object, and then uses those to tell a story. She still uses the stories to recall facts. It's not super fast. She also learned the 9s trick, so those are easy for her.


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What is the 9s trick? I will teach my dd when the time comes.

[diamond]

Here's what I used to do with my third grade students who seemed to feel that memorizing facts was too huge of a task:

Get a blank times table with all of the numbers filled in. Have her color in the squares for all of the facts she already knows or are super easy to figure out in your head. That usually means coloring in the 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's (I consider 9's to be in that category as well). Once you color all of those squares, there really aren't that many left to have to drill in your head. I found it gave them more confidence when they realized that they already knew so many.


Why is the 9s table easy? Am I missing something?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Why is the 9s table easy? Am I missing something?

9, 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5... First number goes up, second number goes down.

[diamond]

Oh cool didn't know about this trick

[Cam&Clay]

Why is the 9s table easy? Am I missing something?

There's also the hand trick. Let's say we are doing 9x4. Hold up all 10 fingers. From the left count off 4 fingers and drop that finger down. The number of fingers on the left of the dropped finger is the first digit of the answer (3) and the number of fingers on the right is the second digit (6).

Also, you can take the number you are multiplying times 9 and subtract 1 then add whatever you need to make the total of 9. So with 9x4, you the answer would be 3 and then 6 more to make 9.

The digits that make up the multiples of 9 always add up to 9 (18, 27, 36, 45, 54, etc.).

[jren]

The hand trick is the one my DD uses for 9s. The others are too complicated for her. I traced my hands and cut them out and used those to show her the trick since she wasn't getting it by watching me.


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[OKKiddo]

There's also the hand trick. Let's say we are doing 9x4. Hold up all 10 fingers. From the left count off 4 fingers and drop that finger down. The number of fingers on the left of the dropped finger is the first digit of the answer (3) and the number of fingers on the right is the second digit (6).

Also, you can take the number you are multiplying times 9 and subtract 1 then add whatever you need to make the total of 9. So with 9x4, you the answer would be 3 and then 6 more to make 9.

The digits that make up the multiples of 9 always add up to 9 (18, 27, 36, 45, 54, etc.).

This website shows how to do that along with other touch math techniques. I will say though that the touch points on the 9 are wrong in this video.