Help your child learn multiplication facts at home.
Multiplication facts are challenging for some children to learn, so why not make learning the facts fun for them? Time spent in class is not enough for children to learn their facts; they also need to spend time at home working on them. If your child needs extra work, there are some ways to help your child at home with multiplication facts.
Flashcards
Purchase flashcards to help your child with multiplication facts. Students need to be fluent with their math facts. The way to achieve fluency is through repetition. Practice facts daily. Carry them in the car and children can practice them during any down time. Don't spend a lot of time at once going through the cards. Practicing in short amounts of time -- and often -- is more beneficial. When practicing facts with your child, break up the facts. For example, just work on the eights before moving to the nines.
Mnemonic Techniques
Mnemonic techniques are fun ways to help children improve their memory. Mnemonics are used for teaching students with a wide range of learning skills. The peg word strategy is used in math because it pairs a rhyming word with a number such as "skate" and "eight." Explain to your child what the peg word strategy is and create mnemonics to go with a set of math facts. For example, "sticks" (6) and "sticks" (6) equal "dirty six" (36). There are also books available for purchase that already have the mnemonics created for you.
Look at the Patterns
Provide your child with a multiplication grid (see Resource Section). Point out to her the patterns in the grid when she is multiplying numbers. For example, when your child multiplies the number four, point out to her as she goes across the grid that the number is increasing each time by four. This works going down the grid as well. Grids are a helpful tool when your child is first starting out, but you want to eventually take it away so she doesn't become dependent on it.
Multiplication Tricks
There are tricks with some of the math facts to teach your child. One example is for the four times tables. You point out to your child that if he doubles the number and then doubles it again, he gets the answer. Use the example, 4 x 4 = 16. Have him double four and he gets eight; double eight and he gets sixteen.
Another trick is for the number nine. Have your child hold up all ten fingers. Give him a multiplication problem such as 9 x 3. Starting with his left hand, have him count three in from the pinkie and bend that finger down (it is the middle finger). Count the number he has remaining on the left side of the bent finger, which is two (2). Count the number of fingers left to the right of the bent finger, which is seven (7). Tell him to put the two numbers together and he has his answer, twenty-seven (27). Whatever number is being multiplied by nine is the finger of the ten fingers that is bent down, with one starting at the left pinkie and ten ending at the right pinkie.
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