Help Your Child Learn Their Times Tables

The times tables are very useful when it comes to maths and something all children learn. However some may struggle more than others and you may be wanting to know how you can help your child learn their tables. Many of us adults vaguely remember learning our times Tables and it now seems extremely easy to recall them from our minds when you’ve already learned them long ago and they have been grained into our memory. You do take the knowledge for granted.

However, many children are quite fearful of learning their times tables and this can create a negative effect on their learning and make it much more difficult to retain the info. It is therefore so important to make it as fun as possible from the get go. In this article we look at tips to help your child learn their tables.

Learning the times tables is a bit like riding a bike. When you first begin it may be scary and unknown but practice makes perfect and when you know how and you manage to learn them you won’t forget.

In order to help your child learn their tables, you need to understand that children need to be able to recall any tables answer within around one to two seconds. Memory games can really help with this. The answer has to pop out of memory pretty much instantly. They are a lot about memory.

The order you should learn Times Tables

So, there is no right or wrong way when it comes to the order of learning your times tables. However in order to help your child learn their tables we suggest that you start with the easy tables first – the Easy Times Tables are the 10x, 2x and 5x tables.

The 10x tables are a natural part of counting, the two times tables are familiar because of doubling, even numbers and they sound so fun when chanted for example “2, 4, 6, 8, open up the farmers gate”. . .  The 5x tables go well with learning the time. After that usually children will then learn 4x, 9x are usually next. After this you could teach the 3x tables followed by the 6x tables. Then the 8x tables and the 7x tables – which are generally quite tricky.

The UK National curriculum has recently re-included the 11 and 12 multiplication.  The 11s are very easy and the 12s are just as fun as the rest.

Help your child learn their Times Tables – Make it fun

You can help your child by making it really fun and memorable. There are so many ways but here are some ideas to help your child learn their tables.

Times Table Stairs

A great way to make it fun is to write each time tables you are learning on the stairs. So for example if you were learning the 5x tables on the first stair you would write 5X1=5, second stair 2X5=10 and so on. You can simply write the answers on a strip of paper or piece of card and stick it on with sellotape or similar. You can ask your child to go up the stairs reading out the card or even just stand at the bottom and point or throw a beanbag, try doing it in a funny voice. The more fun it is, the more chance they will have of retaining the information. You can change it to the times tables your child is learning. Every time your child goes up the stairs they will see the tables.

Grouping Items

A really good way for children to practice and understand tables is for them to actually visually see what time tables are. For instance if they were practicing their 5X tables you could draw 10 circles and then ask them to find however many items in each group. For example if you said 2X5 you could put 5 rocks in 2 circles to represent this. Get them to count this out so they can visually see what the multiplication is.

You could also take this activity to the beach to make it even more memorable. Draw rings with a stick (to represent the group) and find stones to add in to each ring, representing the numbers. All of these fun, interactive things

Playing Games

When trying to help your child learn their times tables you will find there are so many multiplication games, dice, blocks, charts, cards and online interactive games. It can be a bit overwhelming to know what to do or buy. Remember, sometimes simple is best. Linking fun and learning has lots of benefits, like helping your children remember more information because they’re playing games at the same time. There are lots of fantastic websites and resources out there that can get you started.

We thoroughly recommend taking a look at the tacklingtables™ student set from Learning Resouces UK. This cards game sees children practising their 1-12 times tables and building instant recall skills through fun play. It was developed by maths teachers and is colour-coded to show families what times tables children need to learn in years 2, 3, and 4.

Here are a few examples of fun online games you can introduce your child to in order to help your child learn:

• Twinkl
• Time Tables Rock Stars
• Top Marks
• Learn your Times Tables
• Reading Eggs

Chanting / Singing Times Tables

Chanting or singing can be a great way for you to help your child learn their tables. By saying the times tables out loud, it will help your child remember them. Make sure you don’t do it for too long though because it can get a little bit boring.

Join a Math’s Club

Another fantastic way to improve your child’s math’s and help your child with their times tables is by taking them to a math’s club or potentially getting them a math’s tutor. You can find many math’s clubs and tutors on our online directory. As well as face to face tutors there are lots of online programmes that can help. For example Reading Eggs helps children learn how to read but also has a programme called Mathseeds that can help children with math’s skills.

Club Hub UK has the largest selection of Educational kids clubs near you. If you see an Educational kids club in your area that is missing from our list, tell the owner to add their listing to our directory. Search our directory to find kids educational classes near you.

You can also check out our Blog Articles “Best Tutors for Kids in the UK” which may be of interest.