Mastering the Times Tables

Way back in the beginning of the year, I stated it was my goal to make math more FUN. I haven't forgotten that goal. I'm not sure that my nine year old thinks math is "fun", but she doesn't think it's the drudgery it used to be. My six year old can't get enough of math. He has a brain for numbers and is obsessed with time, money - it's great, but it kind of drives his sister crazy!

I'm also discovering I have two very different learners. My son learns by hearing something and this is just about enough for him. My daughter has to have more repetition/drill and also enjoys working with her hands. Homeschooling is awesome because it allows me to tailor math to their specific learning style.

We have almost mastered the times tables through 12. I have a couple of resources and games which have really helped that I'd like to share. If you have something that works for your children, please leave me a comment and tell me about it!

Multiplication Mountain CD by Hap Palmer -- the times tables set to music. When my little guy recalls his multiplication facts he sings them to me. I'm not kidding. All it took was a week of listening to this in the van and he had it. This is obviously the way he learns.

Multiplication Wrap-Ups - we used these for addition and subtraction. My daughter likes these because she loves to work with her hands. This is obviously the way she learns.

Egg carton game for math facts -- I got this idea from a Mathtacular video that came with some Sonlight curriculum. The whole video is great and has lots of ideas that are easy to implement. Here's how you play: get an empty egg carton and number the compartments with the numbers 1-12 with a Sharpie. Put two beans or counters (we used marbles) in the carton and SHAKE!

Open the carton and whatever two numbers your counters rest in determines your math fact. For example -- counters land in 11 and 10, my kids say "11 times 10 is 110". You can use this for addition and subtraction, too. They REALLY liked this game.

Coloring 100s charts with whatever multiples you want your child to learn - print some 100s charts from this site and have your child color accordingly. It seems that 7s and 12s are tough for us, so I've had the kids color in the multiples of those so they can see the patterns. For example, your child would color 7,14,21,28,35, etc.... all the way up to 84 on their 100s chart and then see if there is a pattern that emerges.

Drill, drill, drill!
I know there is a school of thought that says don't worry about drilling, but I am in charge of my kids' education and I know they will know it if I drill them and drill them daily. Mean momma, right?

That's it for multiplication? Thoughts? Comments? I'd love to hear from you!

I am participating in a blog hop today over at ABC & 123 Learning Cooperative. Looks like there are some great ideas, so check them out! And, as always, I'm linking to the wonderful Hip Homeschool Hop!

Comments

[Rebecca]

LOVE the CD. We received one with Math U See (not this one). It is one they created and is set to cute Biblical songs....the kids walk around singing it when we're working on our math...or just because they think about it. We also have a CD for Grammar and Georgraphy. I love using the Classical Method of Music/repitition for learning. Looks like you achieved your goal for making math fun! That is so awesome!

[Kim]

Visiting from the HHH! These are some really great ideas. I'll have to store them away for when my little one is older.

[Steph @ MomKaboodle]

Love these ideas! I'm always looking for ways to make learning more fun (especially math).

My 5-year-old is a kinesthetic learner - I think the egg-carton addition might help him.

Thanks so much for the great info. Visiting you from HHH!

[Pebblekeeper ~ Angie]

We did a card toss game. With a deck of playing cards - toss them into a hat or a bowl. (This was part of our cowboy unit study long ago). If the card makes it into the hat - it could be addition and if it misses it could be subtraction. For multiplication you could have many hats, like 6, 7, 8 and missing could be a review like 4 or harder like 7. Little brother could be the card tosser etc. Change distance, tosser, reviewer. We just used Times Alive, a CD or downloadable. It really sharpened up the speed and accuracy of the times tables for my two!

[5ennie]

We've used the Wrap-Ups too, they are great! And I found special dice that go up to 12 that were helpful too. Also, check out my blog, I have an award waiting for you there :)