When I was in primary school, I had this Ghanaian lesson teacher who would line us up at this group lesson and ask us to recite our times tables and we’d go one after the other and start from 2 times 1 all the way to 12 times 12. Once we miss any fact, we would get whooped.
I remember I used to dread going for lessons but because of the fear of Mr A, I learnt my times tables by ”fire by force” as we say these days. Did it help me in the future? YES
Will I use this method for my biological children or the children I teach? No
Having garnered a wealth of experience from teaching Maths to Primary school pupils, I belong to the school of thought that believes a child should know their times tables by heart. Of course we teach them that multiplication is repeated addition and they can skip count in that number to get their time tables or learn a song. But you see at the end of the day if a child needs to start reciting 8 times 1 from the beginning just to give an answer to 8 times 8 then there’s a problem. The child will end up getting frustrated when trying to solve a long division problem or find factor pairs of numbers.
So what has worked for me? And how have I been able to make my learners memorise their times tables without the famous chanting of tables every morning. The answer is this really great website I discovered a couple of years ago called:mathsisfun.com
On this site, is a wonderful app called: math trainer. click here to view it. I cannot stop raving about this app. It does exactly what it says, it trains the brain to remember. At every parents’ seminar I have spoken at, I have not stopped preaching the gospel of math trainer because it is absolutely brilliant.
Math trainer encourages the child not to count but to train themselves to remember. This works in unison with the constant theme in my classroom- resilience. Remember that ‘concentration’ game we played while growing up? Math trainer is quite similar. The app allows you to choose which facts you want to practise and then plays the same question over and over again, this way a child is bound to remember.
I have won so many victories over times tables with using maths trainer in my classroom that I just had to share.
In closing, I do not encourage rote chanting of the times tables but I do believe that times tables should be known by heart and this is one way to get it sorted.
So let me hear your thoughts in the comments section. I’d also like to hear what methods have worked for you in your classroom or at home as a parent.
Photo credit: paperzip.co.uk
Green Obsidian Educational Services 
Lovely piece.
What has worked tremendously for me songs. My students and I come up with tunes they enjoy and we spin it around a table using skip counting. Some year, we came up with a rap song for or 8s.
I find that it allows them enjoy the moment while mastering the answers and overtime it becomes a part of them. A part of them that is jolted by the growth of the human brain through natural occurrences.
The more one moves to rhyme and rhythm, the more it stays stuck. Just think how we never forget our twinkle twinkle little stars. Splendid Seun!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Rhoda. You are absolutely right about rhyme and rhythm.
Fantastic piece! I actually plan to do an outdoor class game tomorrow on timetable.
Normally, we count in 2s, 3s etc as we skip after we have mastered the skill as repeated addition.
I get nice worksheets from mathsisfun.com , i wiill check out the math trainer app, thanks for sharing.
Awesome!! The outdoor class sounds like so much fun. Thanks for sharing
Cool stuff
Thank you Idara!!
For me… I teach the table facts using songs and rhythm.. however emphasis is placed on application. There is no use chanting your times table when it cannot be applied in a multiplication sum. I teach the children to decode… from what they remember to what they cannot remember. They are also taught to relate to division. I recently taught the 7 times table and I basically just focused on the tricky ones like 7×7, 6×7, 8×7. The rest has been learnt already using the commutative nature of the times table.
I do intend to explore the website and add to my resource site. Thank you Hayley consult for the tip!
Thanks for sharing Topeju!! Application of concepts is key. Glad to hear you’d be trying the app!!
I encourage the children to think of the closest multiple to the one they are stuck on then add on. Also tricks with their fingers are quite awesome. Maths really is fun.
Thanks for sharing ibironks. Maths is fun, no doubt.
I’m a still a bit very old school, even though I don’t expect kids to chant their times table like Mr A. I expect each and every child to give me answer in a flash, without starting to count from beginning. I know it won’t work for every child, but I still challenge my kids using classroom times table games like wrap around and apps. But nothing works faster and more accurately like the good old worksheet. All I do is find different ways to make it (worksheet) fun.
Thanks for sharing Tobi.
That’s exactly what they are able to do with math trainer. I still teach them the facts and they know a couple of songs, they also know that multiplication is commutative, I even give the 5 minute drills on some days. But I use math trainer to build speed, accuracy and resilience because they won’t stop practising till they can give me their answers in a flash.