fourcatmom Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 My 4th grader is still really struggling with her multiplication facts. We practice, we play games but it's just not coming easy to her. She does well in math, even geometry but the multiplication trips her up all the time. What have you used? I have heard good reviews about Times Tales. She seems a bit old for the program in terms of the way it's presented but then again she needs a way to memorize them. Thanks in Advance!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymonster Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 A fun supplemental that has been super effective/fun for multiplication is School House Rock. We have both the DVDs and the CDs... I think you can find them on YouTube, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iucounu Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 In my opinion MM does a very good job of teaching children techniques for remembering and reconstructing math facts (doubles, etc.). For practice, we used IXL, which worked very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomandlorih Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 We are using https://www.xtramath.org/home and love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I think you should try the Times Tales DVD. Don't worry about whether she seems too old. You already said nothing else is working. That helped my daughter a lot (at about that age too)! Then she reinforced by playing Timez Attack and games on multiplication.com. But it was Times Tales that got her to remember them to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwg Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Mine too! And he has a great memory so it is weird how these facts just will. not.stick. :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsuz123 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I just posted about this on my blog about multiplication facts. (I don't know how to link to that particular post - post it was a very recent post, and I have a newer blog). What has really made the biggest difference is doing Times Tales. Best money we ever spent. Yes, there still is some memorizing, but more of a visual type story way. I would highly recommend that. I also put some other sites on my blogs of great math sites/blogs to try. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Tux of Math Command Numbers Munchers (which teaches factors, multiples, and primes) Timez Attack All three are free (or have a free version) and can be downloaded from the web. They're games that require quick responses. Ds learned his math facts, but these games cemented him and sped him up. For us, introducing a special class would've just caused more problems. These made math 'fun' and there's no complaints when I order a half hour of game playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloggermom Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 You should seriously consider Timez Attack or Math Rider. These are fun and painless ways to memorize math facts. My kids LOVE them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Tux of Math Command Numbers Munchers (which teaches factors, multiples, and primes) Timez Attack All three are free (or have a free version) and can be downloaded from the web. They're games that require quick responses. Ds learned his math facts, but these games cemented him and sped him up. For us, introducing a special class would've just caused more problems. These made math 'fun' and there's no complaints when I order a half hour of game playing. Thanks. I'll check these out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 You should seriously consider Timez Attack or Math Rider. These are fun and painless ways to memorize math facts. My kids LOVE them. I don't have Math Rider :D Thanks!! Thanks. I'll check these out. See links above. Searches should result in links for the other two I mentioned :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letsplaymath Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 My times table series of blog posts may work for your daughter. My approach minimizes memorization and stresses building a foundation of prealgebra-style understanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daysaregifts Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 We enjoy Arithmemouse, and it's cheap ($5?). It's a fun, little less action-y alternative to TimezAttack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I downloaded Timez Attack based upon recommendations I saw here, and within a week, ds was showing VAST improvement with his times tables and his speed in being able to answer them. I allowed him to play for 30 minutes each day. It works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramlingk Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 We used times tales a couple of years ago and my son (10) and daughter (11) still remember the stories and use them sometimes when they go blank on a particular fact. However, I am not sure if they have updated them since we bought ours, but at that time, they only had the facts for 6, 7, 8, and 9. I know I wished it were more comprehensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Timez Attack, Reflex Math, etc. didn't sit well with Button -- who has very little computer time -- it was just too much computer stuff; Timez Attack was sort of addictive and he ended up lying in order to get more (non-Timez-Attack) computer time ... have to go, but thought I'd throw that out: if the children are used to more computer time, or are less intense, it prob. wouldn't hurt. And you can do trials for free! we may try Times Tales; and we've started Calculadder for drill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 My times table series of blog posts may work for your daughter. My approach minimizes memorization and stresses building a foundation of prealgebra-style understanding. What a great resource. Thanks for sharing this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 We used times tales a couple of years ago and my son (10) and daughter (11) still remember the stories and use them sometimes when they go blank on a particular fact. However, I am not sure if they have updated them since we bought ours, but at that time, they only had the facts for 6, 7, 8, and 9. I know I wished it were more comprehensive. I ended up having her watch the YouTube video on number 9 one night and after the 16 minute video, she remembered most of them. She didn't always get the stories right, but she remembered most of them and the numbers in the story. I know we wouldn't use it for long, but I think it would help, after she got over how "dorky" she thought it was she admitted that the stories helped her remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iucounu Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 My times table series of blog posts may work for your daughter. My approach minimizes memorization and stresses building a foundation of prealgebra-style understanding. :iagree:That's great stuff, and in large part exactly how I helped my son learn the times table. Doubles, squares etc. can be used to make inroads on the unknown facts, then extrapolation techniques used to get the facts near the ones known. One thing that helped tremendously for DS during practice was to use one of the techniques to reconstruct the fact forgotten: if he'd forgotten 6 X 8, he would for example remember 3 X 8 and double that in his head. It took a bit of extra time and work, but in the end he was much more solid, because he knew much more about number relationships, and had more confidence because he knew a multitude of ways to reconstruct and double-check any particular fact. He also got a lot of practice in basic mental calculation this way. This also partly depends on a teaching technique that I learned so long ago I've forgotten the name of it: make it slightly more expensive to forget a fact or make a small error, so that the student over time learns subconsciously that it's simply less work to remember or have better focus the first time around. In reading, for example, this can be used to practically eliminate errors such as skipping occasional prepositions, or substituting similar words. Whenever a child makes an error like that, you can make her repeat the sentence from the beginning, and then graduate to the paragraph, page, etc. The child learns that by going at a pace that's appropriate and focusing on accuracy a bit more, the work can be cut down tremendously, and in a few lessons the accuracy typically shoots up greatly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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