Math Facts

[arliemaria]

I spoke with a Fulbright Scholar in Physics over the holiday weekend.  He was talking about the importance of being able to recall math facts without hesitation in about a second for each problem. He requires his children to know addition/subtraction facts to 20 and multiplication/division to 12.  Once they have these down (able to answer about 55 problems in a minute) they move.  They also practice prime numbers and some squares beyond the basic ones to 12.

For basic operation math facts he does a minute math facts on paper.  He said not to do them on a computer.  We have done XtraMath in the past.  We would often stop for a time after my son was left frustrated.  He said to do the daily math facts on paper and to do flash cards perhaps twice per week, but can't recall his recommendation for time spent on this.

So what say you, hive mind?  We haven't used the mad minute math fact sheets, but perhaps this is done in schools for a reason.  

[Gil]

I require my kids to know a variety of math facts, as readily as they know their phonic sounds.

My reasoning (and I'm not a Full Bright scholar or anything special) was just based on my own experience and basic common sense about struggling to use half-learned information when executing a skill-based task, like reading.

If you've got to pause to think what sound ph, j, r or ck makes, then it's going to keep you a slow, choppy and error-prone reader. You need to internalize all your sounds as quickly as possible or you'll misread words, butcher sentences and be weak when reading paragraphs. Reading books themselves becomes unbearably cumbersome.

Solving math problems can be thought of as analagous to that. If you're stopping to count out various math facts every step of the way of solving a percent or quadratic then you're going to be slow, choppy and error-prone.

I'm a stickler for memorization of "basic info" but there are multiple ways to memorize math facts. So if your kids don't internalize math facts well from the mad-minute sheets you don't have to make them the heart of their memorization program, but I do strongly advocate for an intentional and explicit memorization program.

[Syllieann]

I agree that it’s important that they become automatic.  I think maybe the reason he likes the paper and pencil approach is because it provides some additional sensory input.  The child actually has to form the shape of the number.  Maybe that helps them remember, but it also slows down the number of facts that can be solved in one minute, especially if we’re talking about a young child who isn’t automatic in writing numerals.  The number of times the child must recall information is really important in getting it into long term memory, so idk that I can agree or disagree with him on touchscreen vs. pencil.  It will probably depend on the kid.

[mumto2]

Totally agree.......way back when we were doing the basics everything I was reading said not to bother with memorizing but after we had memorized the basics the jump in ability was huge both times.  We wrote and did verbal with flash cards.  Very little computer at our house until they were much older.  Btw, two math majors so I guess it worked. ?

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

Memorization of basic math facts is important, but there are MUCH better ways to accomplish committing things to memory than drill & kill. Those minute math sheets were the bane of my existence in elementary- not because they were challenging, but because they were dreadfully dull. I much prefer the use of games. We play RightStart games, Yahtzee, Math Dice, cards... DS doesn’t even realize he is memorizing - we’re simply having fun! 

[arliemaria]

On 5/29/2018 at 7:29 PM, Gil said:

I require my kids to know a variety of math facts, as readily as they know their phonic sounds.

My reasoning (and I'm not a Full Bright scholar or anything special) was just based on my own experience and basic common sense about struggling to use half-learned information when executing a skill-based task, like reading.

If you've got to pause to think what sound ph, j, r or ck makes, then it's going to keep you a slow, choppy and error-prone reader. You need to internalize all your sounds as quickly as possible or you'll misread words, butcher sentences and be weak when reading paragraphs. Reading books themselves becomes unbearably cumbersome.

Solving math problems can be thought of as analagous to that. If you're stopping to count out various math facts every step of the way of solving a percent or quadratic then you're going to be slow, choppy and error-prone.

I'm a stickler for memorization of "basic info" but there are multiple ways to memorize math facts. So if your kids don't internalize math facts well from the mad-minute sheets you don't have to make them the heart of their memorization program, but I do strongly advocate for an intentional and explicit memorization program.

What are some programs you recommend?

[Targhee]

My guess he is that he is a brilliant physicist, but perhaps not an educator, and that his children (being receivers of his genes) probably have very similar ways of thinking and learning to their father.

Math facts are important. How you get to mastery (and when) will look very different for some people. Not every great writer spells well, not every great student of history was reading at 4 years old, not every great musician mastered major/minor/7th/diminished/etc scales through the circle of fifths before beginning their first jazz piece. There is no absolutely limiting gate in math through which passage is obtained by the “Ive got my facts down” ticket.  Not having them poses obstacles for some things until they are memorized, but often those same obstacles increase motivation to internalize the facts, and all the while they can be learning and applying other topics in math.

So yes, memorize those facts for facility but don’t think there’s only one way to get there, and allow them the time they need to get there.

Timed drills and flash cards about killed my incredibly competent and creative math student’s love of math. Thankfully we took a different approach for her, and she’s excelled.

[Sarah0000]

I'm not sure I agree. Math facts drill resulted in many errors for my five year old despite using the same information to solve problems without error. Even now just moving straight on to long multiplication results in usually zero errors than doing something like straight multiplication facts. Its like his brain doesn't want to pull the information unless he needs it for a bigger purpose.

Same with reading. It's not a struggle for my kids to read even at three years old even though they can't recite every sound a letter makes in an instant. I do make sure to teach the phonograms but not to death and not before reading. It hasn't hurt my now six year old who is spelling via dictation without trouble after he's been reading fluently a few years.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I always tell my own personal anecdotal story about math facts.  Which is this:

I have a degree in physics, though I certainly don't claim to be a Fulbright Scholar.  I just mean, I've got a lot of math under my belt.  I still do not have the whole times table memorized.  However, I can calculate my missing facts as fast as most people can recall them from memory.  

For example, I know that 6x6 is 36.  Every time I need to find 6x7, I start from 6x6 and my mental process is: "6x6 is 36, plus 6, is 42.".  I can calculate it as fast as I can read the sentence in quotes.  I have probably a third of the table in my mind as a fast calculation as opposed to a recollection.  This has never hampered me in the slightest.  

I don't care if my kids memorize or calculate, as long as they can do it fast.