Multiplication - facts vs repeated addition

[Tanikit]

My daughter is supposed to be learning her multiplication facts - however every time she is presented with one she uses repeated addition to work it out and then gives the answer (so for the 4 times table every time she is doubling and doubling again, with the 5 times table she is counting by fives). Will this lead to problems later on - will it ever switch to automatically knowing the answer because she has done this enough times or should I be teaching it in a way to get an automatic answer. It is clear she understands what multiplication means but when does repeated addition become a problem and what should I do about it if it is a problem?

[Ausmumof3]

That's how it gets taught often. Eventually most facts get automated then you just have to work on whatever got missed.

[kiana]

She's not quite 7? I wouldn't worry about this at that age, it's a great use of a mental strategy. As long as she doesn't have access to a calculator for daily work, I would expect them to become ingrained through repetition.

[Cosmos]

How else would she figure it out? The other alternative is to simply guess when she doesn't know the answer, and that's a far worse option.

 

Eventually you want her to have them memorized, but until they are, she's doing exactly what you want her to do.

[Calm37]

If she is doing well with this, I would get her to memorize what we used to call the "magic doubles" next. 5x5, 6x6, etc. That would give her a midpoint in the skip counting.

[OneStepAtATime]

Actually that means she is understanding what multiplication is representing.  Some kids don't get that at all.  Maybe have her fill in a multiplication grid once a week using that method and let her see the overall pattern of the numbers.  Play a lot of multiplication games with her, too. so the facts will hopefully get faster and she won't have to go through all the addition steps every time.  But that may take a lot of time and exposure.  Have you looked as Soror's thread?

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/499692-looking-to-do-some-relaxed-math-here-want-to-share-ideas/

[Erin]

I agree with the above that this is a GOOD thing, and that she'll almost certainly outgrow it (because it's a PIA to keep using it lol)

However, it's a very useful thing to have in her math arsenal because when she has a brain-glitch some afternoon in the 5th grade, and forgets what 6x7 is, she can repeatedly add and remember, 'oh yea….42!  Doh!' ;)

 

 

PS:  I would add that the number-sense this is fostering is excellent.  She is cementing how numbers relate to one another on her own (much better than being taught) and no doubt she's memorizing doubles and even triples without any extra effort.  Encourage her to keep doing this.  Don't try to shut it off.

[Tanikit]

Ok thanks - she is using LOF (Ice Cream) and it seems to be going a bit fast for someone who does not know their multiplication facts off by heart - maybe we need to slow right down with LOF and let her play with working them out in Singapore (she has only just finished Singapore 2B which did not cover all the multiplication facts) a bit more til they are more solid. There seems to be a jump from LOF Honey to LOF Ice Cream that my daughter is not quite ready for - except that she loves LOF and asks for it all the time. Her addition and subtraction facts appear solid though I think she is still using Singapore's method of making 10s - which is fine as she is fast enough for it not to matter when doing the bigger sums. 

 

Will see if I can get her to use a grid and see more patterns and see if I can get the doubles more easily memorised. Don't worry no calculators - I wouldn't allow calculators til they are doing high school Math.

[OneStepAtATime]

Sounds like a plan!  Good luck!  :)