Alicia64 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 We use Math U See and I even bought Times Tales which we all love. The problem is that Times Tales only does stories on the number "6" and up. So today when we were going over 2 x 8 = , he couldn't remember and then came up with 19. :confused: We've been doing multiplication for months now and his twin brother is fine. Yes, I know this boy is not as lightening-speed fast as his brother in picking up most things. . . but he eventually gets everything. But 2 x 8??? I'd love suggestions for games. . . or anything! TIA! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 What finally worked for us was DH stepping in to play "bad cop" and suspending all screen privileges until DD mastered the tables. After diddling around for months, she got them learned by heart in under a week. I would recommend taking away whatever privilege your child is most motivated to win back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Times tales! It saved my daughter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I took a really laid back approach to this when my oldest was that age. He played on Timez attack (you can get a free version, we bought the paid one to have the other game areas) but then I just gave him a multiplication table he could use when doing his math work. Eventually they sunk in and he didn't need the multiplication table anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 xtramath. It's painful (there's a speed section, and it's all timed) and DS hated it initially, but he's really fast now. If your son would have a meltdown with a timed thing like that, I recommend MathRider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Have you tried Timez Attack? It's a game that helps them practice their multiplication skills. It's free to download and goes up to 12. It helped my dd so much when she was learning them because she wanted to play the game so much. :) Hope that helps! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenC3 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Dd is about 80% memorized, but I just created and oldschool handheld chart like the one I bought for 10 cents at her age. It's laminated. We have one for the house and the car an she loves them. She will have these down in no time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Well starting with your example---does he know the rule "remember your doubles, never have trouble"? Does he know that it means 2 8's and 8+8=16 so 2x8=16 as well and that naturally means that 16 divided by 2 has to be 8? (and to be fair, remembering 8+8=16 and 9+9=18 and not the other way around is sort of normal for this age ;) ) This is what I've done with my oldest for multiplication: Lots of work in the Miquon books using Cusinaire rods until he understood the concept of how it relates to addition/division/and fractions (the Blue and Green book is where Miquon really starts exploring this in depth). I wouldn't even ask him to do memory work until he was showing proficiency in those concepts (playing with C-rods, building factor houses, constructing number patterns, and finally putting together his own multiplication chart.) You don't give a kid a multiplication chart imo until they understand how the patterns in it relate to one another. We also watche SchoolHouse Rock (those songs really do have a way of working magic) and he works independently through a Kumon book on multiplication (3rd grade). Anything he doesn't *know* intuitively, no worries, he works it out with his rods. With the rods he's able to see patterns such as 7x4=28 because he already knows two sevens are 14 and so 4 of them should be 14+14=28. I think being able to work with numbers in various ways like that is more valuable than rote memorization. What I've seen this year is that, over time, not being pressured to memorize, but instead really understanding the how and why of it (and having those rods or pattern pages he's made available) leads into a natural memorization. He's now at a point where he is getting quicker doing his math work with no use of manipulatives because he's been able to use them as he needed them that he's internalized those answers. Basically he's memorized his facts to 9 without anyone ever asking him to memorize them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Well starting with your example---does he know the rule "remember your doubles, never have trouble"? Does he know that it means 2 8's and 8+8=16 so 2x8=16 as well and that naturally means that 16 divided by 2 has to be 8? (and to be fair, remembering 8+8=16 and 9+9=18 and not the other way around is sort of normal for this age ;) ) This is what I've done with my oldest for multiplication: Lots of work in the Miquon books using Cusinaire rods until he understood the concept of how it relates to addition/division/and fractions (the Blue and Green book is where Miquon really starts exploring this in depth). I wouldn't even ask him to do memory work until he was showing proficiency in those concepts (playing with C-rods, building factor houses, constructing number patterns, and finally putting together his own multiplication chart.) You don't give a kid a multiplication chart imo until they understand how the patterns in it relate to one another. We also watche SchoolHouse Rock (those songs really do have a way of working magic) and he works independently through a Kumon book on multiplication (3rd grade). Anything he doesn't *know* intuitively, no worries, he works it out with his rods. With the rods he's able to see patterns such as 7x4=28 because he already knows two sevens are 14 and so 4 of them should be 14+14=28. I think being able to work with numbers in various ways like that is more valuable than rote memorization. What I've seen this year is that, over time, not being pressured to memorize, but instead really understanding the how and why of it (and having those rods or pattern pages he's made available) leads into a natural memorization. He's now at a point where he is getting quicker doing his math work with no use of manipulatives because he's been able to use them as he needed them that he's internalized those answers. Basically he's memorized his facts to 9 without anyone ever asking him to memorize them. I would go with something like this. IMHO you shouldn't use games such as timez attack till the student is able to figure out all the times tables using pencil and paper, or c-rods, or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebug42 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Schoolhouse Rock and multiplication.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatholicMom Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) I suggest buying the Flashmaster game! My kids actually *want* to use it (I tell them "after school," lol, because I want to finish our normal stuff first). It's expensive... 40 or 50 bucks I think, but SO worth it. Day 1 my kids were trying to beat their own time! And if my kids suspect anything is "school," they are usually leery, so that says something. It's made FOR drilling kids in math and it's not colorful and pretty but my boys don't seem to care and what's awesome is the parent can select different levels, different operations, and you can easily set it so that it will keep drilling "missed problems." You can also manually enter problems they need to work on. These features are why I'm SO glad I bought the Flashmaster and not a different, cuter (and less expensive!) version. You can also "see results" of the last 9 activities to see how they're doing. You can do Timed practice, timed test, time limit for each problem, multiplication table (or other table) in order, out of order, etc. a-w-e-s-o-m-e It's very easy to set, too, since they have all the buttons labeled and instructions stuck right on the back of the game. Worst case scenario is she doesn't think it's that fun, but you already know that a lot of other forms of drilling aren't going to be a hit, right? Maybe worth a try. Edited to add: I use Math U See, too. We're on Gamma and what I'm trying to do is when my son starts a new lesson, say, multiplying by 5's, I make sure he understands the concept fully (that 3x5 means three 5's or five 3's and that he can figure it out by counting by 5's, etc.) I then have him do the problems in the student book like this for the A,B,C worksheets (having to figure them out and maybe memorize a few along the way from repetition). Then I will have him use the Flashmaster on days D,E,F and try to memorize all the x5's. So far, it does NOT take long with the flashmaster. I did the x2's as fast as I could enter them on the first day we tried the game because they were saying "mom, do it as fast as you can," and I thought no way is he going to come close to my time... and he equaled it! I couldn't believe it. Anyway, this is to give you an idea of how you might make use of it with MUS since of course you don't want to just hand over the game and have try to have her memorize the whole table at once without having gotten to the x7 lesson or what have you in MUS. That's why flashmaster is awesome, though, that you can enter problems or choose levels so they are drilling exactly what needs to be drilled. HTH :o) Edited February 10, 2012 by TaraJo29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 We use Math U See and I even bought Times Tales which we all love. The problem is that Times Tales only does stories on the number "6" and up. So today when we were going over 2 x 8 = , he couldn't remember and then came up with 19. :confused: We've been doing multiplication for months now and his twin brother is fine. Yes, I know this boy is not as lightening-speed fast as his brother in picking up most things. . . but he eventually gets everything. But 2 x 8??? I'd love suggestions for games. . . or anything! Here's how I helped my own child. Consider backing off and doing a review of addition/subtraction facts to 20. Once your child is comfortable, practice mental math. Singapore Mental Math Grade 2 is excellent for that. Practice skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. Lastly, start the times review again using the rods. Introduce no more than one concept per day. Spend 10 mins max explaining, and stand nearby to make gentle corrections. Stop after 30 minutes total. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeBlessings Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Have you seen this on structured drill by the creator of Math Mammoth? Using this method(slightly tweaked) really helped my kids. On top of the whiteboard work I added in them copying the facts on paper 3 times each day, then they went to orally reciting them to me 3 times each day. When they did this well we moved on to the next set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In2why Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Have you seen this on structured drill by the creator of Math Mammoth? Using this method(slightly tweaked) really helped my kids. On top of the whiteboard work I added in them copying the facts on paper 3 times each day, then they went to orally reciting them to me 3 times each day. When they did this well we moved on to the next set. I really liked the video for memorization drills, but I also agree that until they understand the concept it is really hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lots of boys Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 we use times tales but ours also does the 3's and 4's (plus 6's and up). Is it possible there are different versions? This still wouldn't help with the 2's but I have found times tales plus timez attach to work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trafal Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Timez Attack was what worked for my dd. She literally could not remember the multiplication facts. I used the free version of TimezAttack and that allowed her to review the facts as many times as necessary . It also removed a possible source of conflict between us as neither of us was getting on the other's nerves by constantly having to drill the multiplication facts.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezrabean2005 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Here's how I helped my own child. Consider backing off and doing a review of addition/subtraction facts to 20. Once your child is comfortable, practice mental math. Singapore Mental Math Grade 2 is excellent for that. Practice skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. Lastly, start the times review again using the rods. Introduce no more than one concept per day. Spend 10 mins max explaining, and stand nearby to make gentle corrections. Stop after 30 minutes total. :iagree: If he is having that much difficulty with 2 x 8, it is possible that he may not have his addition and subtraction facts through 20 down cold yet (subtraction will help with division). I'd suggest going back and working through add/sub facts and practicing skip counting. Don't worry, he'll get there. Sometimes it just takes another round to make it click. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloggermom Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I HIGHLY recommend Math Rider or Timez Attack. They made a WORLD of difference for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Before doing any drills, we did a quick review of all multiplication facts. As silly as it sounds, we would clap our hands with each other (like the "Down, down, baby" playground games). We'd rhythmically chant, often as fast as we could: 9x9 is 81 9x9 is 81 9x9 is 81 9x9 is 81 9x8 is 72 9x8 is 72 ... all the way down to the 2x, repeating each fact 4 times. This took about 3-4 minutes and it puts the facts fresh in his mind. Then, he'd play a game whether it was War or a math facts application we have on our iPad. He would even chant "7x8 is 56," to get the answer. The review and drill helped him get his facts drilled quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikkid Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I would agree about making sure the addition is down too. We loved Addition the Fun Way even more than Times Tales the Fun Way. If you're using MUS or even if you're not, then I would also suggest getting the skip counting cd. My dd has really caught on to multiplication because she's listened to that cd since the Alpha level. Also, try not to make a big deal in front of your son that you're frustrated he forgot. I did that with my dd's addition facts accidentally and she really picked up on that feeling and started thinking she couldn't do it because she was afraid she'd be wrong. It took a year plus to get over that. Now she basically taught herself multiplication with the Times Tales since she felt solid in addition and subtraction. It's given her a HUGE boost to her self-esteem. I'm glad I let her take the reins more to read through the book for Times Tales and play the computer game that came with it, because if I would have been more involved in teaching her multiplication she might not have felt that self-satisfaction. Now I think we'll be able to move more quickly through Gamma level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camdunson Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 We really enjoyed Timez attacks...I paid for the full version and my kid really enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AStableBeginning Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I just posted a review on Math Rider on my blog today. Hope it helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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