I need your no-fail, tried and true methods for math facts recall!

[AuntieM]

My kids have *got* to get their speed up. I would love to hear what has worked for you, what finally sealed the deal to get those multipluication facts memorized!

 

Math Shark?

Flash cards?

Online practice?

Timed tests?

Pounds and pounds of chocolate chips?

 

I am about to go gangbusters with them on this issue and I need a strategy. I will appreciate any and all suggestions, thanks!

[katilac]

how old are they? and how long have they been studying multiplication?

[Shasta Mom]

What I have found in these kinds of challenges, is that there are periods in which I feel no progress is being made, followed by spurts of rapid progress. I would keep plugging away doing flash cards and filling out a times table I wouldn't waste anymore money on curricula.

 

Also, when you go through the times tables with the kids, makes notes as to which problems they don't know, and see if there is a pattern, i.e., the 9's , 7's or some other number, and keep working on those. A school year of daily drill should do the trick. Good Luck.

[inashoe]

I use this online math drill. Kids do it each day.

Math facts come with practice.

 

http://www.mathusee.com/drill.html

[PeterPan]

Uh, the only thing I can say is that going gangbusters doesn't work here. It's been a gradual process, something we've been working at for a couple years now. We just keep working and working and I keep telling myself patience, patience... That said, we have seen a ton of progress, to the point where I'm now reasonably happy (not perfectly, but reasonably, no longer at that stressed/uh-oh stage), and here are things that helped:

 

Flashmaster--I like this a fuzz better than the Math Shark. If you're buying new, buy Flashmaster. If you haven't bought it, buy it. BUY IT. It has nice chunkings of the problem sets, so you're able to monitor how much they've actually gotten done. You can also see results if you're so inclined.

 

Bribery--Oh, rewards I meant, haha. We've done a variety of things, everything from short term (weekly) to longer. My newest one, just started today actually, is 5 cents for each set of division problems she completes on the Flashmaster. No money changes hands, just checks on a sheet, but she's earning an awesome prize I picked out. (a catapult!) http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Catapult+-+Medieval+Siege+Engine+Kit/038315/1228146992-876475

 

Abeka Tests and Speed Drills book-- My assessor recommended this to me last year, and it has been just awesome. It gives you small, daily chunks. There are 4 drills and then a spiral review test. You can start low, say with the 2nd gr book, and work up. When you're doing the low levels, they can do a week's worth (4 drills and a test) each day in less than 20 minutes. Let them start in pencil and change to red pencil when the timer goes off, so there is no stress to finish. Some kids really wilt with a large page of drill like calculadders, so these small chunks in the abeka, and the color on the pages to boot, have been just the thing for us. If that's your dc, it may be a good fit too. Oh, and I reward for finishing a grade level of the book. Needs to be something grand. :)

 

Math tables for them to use -- You can google and find these online to print out, one for addition and one for multiplication. Put them in page protectors and let them USE them while they work. If your dc are visual learners, this is an awesome tool because they are building their visual memories with the numbers and the relationships!

 

And that really brings me to a better point. You can get lots of good advice about what works for other kids, but the real question is how YOUR dc learn best. http://www.educate.com has a free learning styles assessment. Do it and see if they have a dominant style you can work with. It might explain why the facts haven't stuck so far the way you've been doing them. You may need more visual or auditory or kinesthetic. When you figure out how YOUR dc learns, you can pick methods that cater to that and take advantage of that. But please don't expect it to be fast. I know for some kids it is, but for many dc it's a slow and steady thing, where you just have to keep working and working at it. Look at my sig. We do abeka AND flashmaster AND regular math (BJU) every day, every single day. On the BJU math I have her do ALL the problems, trying to increase her quantity of daily work. I wish it were overnight or shibang progress, but it's not. It's a process. I can look back over the last couple months and see results, but it's certainly not something that happens in a week or even in a month. Just figure out a plan and work at it. It will come, sooner or later. :)

[rafiki]

.

[angela&4boys]

I finally found that copying facts *with* the answers did the trick for my guys. Why frustrate them when they can copy the answer at first? After a few weeks of copying with answers only then do we switch to drilling.

 

We use a very economical download from currclick.com entitled Copying the Facts.

 

http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=16694&it=1

 

HTH, :)

Edited December 1, 2008 by angela&4boys

[msjones]

This works well with my students and my own kids. Go in order and don't rush it. It takes time.

 

Teach them to count by 2s, 3s, 5s.

 

Teach the 2s table (2x2, 2x3, etc).

 

When the 2s are mastered teach them to double the 2s to get the 4s.

 

When the 4s are mastered, they double the 4s to get the 8s.

 

Then teach the 3s. When those are mastered, teach them to double the 3s to get the 6s.

 

Teach them to do the 5s either by counting by 5s or thinking of the 10s and halving them (i.e. if 10x7 = 70, half of 70 is 35, so 5x7 = 35).

 

Teach them to count by 9s. (Teach the pattern of the 10s increasing by one as the 1s decrease by one. Kids tend to learn that pattern quickly.) Then work on the 9s. They will already know 9x2, 9x3, 9x4,9x8,9x6, 9x5. They'll also be able to do x1 and x10, of course. So, you only need to emphasize 9x7 and 9x9.

 

Finally, work on the 7s. They'll know them already from working on all the others.

 

I hope I included everything. I'm in a hurry, but wanted to suggest this 'system.' It gives the kids a way to figure the facts out rather than just memorizing. They really build confidence by doing them in this order.

 

Also, at our house and with my students I use the Flashmaster. I have found it very helpful and worth every penny.

 

Good luck!

[Harriet Vane]

Mix it up. Do about ten minutes a day of some form of math drill. Use card games, dominoes, worksheets, flashcards, computer programs, or other games. Short varied drills for the rest of their natural lives are the way to go.

[Carol in Cal.]

So she can count by 2's through 12's.

 

This was a mixed blessing in that she STILL does it sometimes. It has become a bit of a crutch. (She's 12.)

 

She used Quartermile Math and continues to practice for about 10 minutes per day 3X per week. She switches between fractions, multiplication, and division. This has improved her speed a lot, but she seems to need to continue with that practice to be able to retain the speed and knowledge. I kept hoping that she would learn the facts and just remember them, but she has learned and forgotten them that way several times over the years, so I have come to accept that for the foreseeable future she will need to keep up this practicing.

[Cindyg]

The big thing that has worked for me is to teach in families: 3 X 6, 6 X 3, 18/3, 18/6. We pick out about 6 or 7 families (with 4 facts per family), and concentrate on those every day for a week. (This is for a 5th grader. For a first grader, I would probably do just one family every day for a week.)

 

Wash, rinse, and repeat forever.

 

We've been at this now from Grade 1 through Grade 5.

 

We've done everything mentioned in this thread (Flashmaster, copywork, oral repetition, flashcards, triangle cards, RightStart games, manipulatives, addition chart, multiplication chart, tossing bean bags, jumping on a trampoline, skip counting, math songs, skip count songs, Times Tales, TimezAttack...I can't even remember everything we've tried...). They all *worked* but none alone was the final solution.

 

The key is just to keep reviewing forever. :) My plan is to keep this up until he gets to algebra and gets to use a calculator.

Edited December 2, 2008 by Cindyg

[riada]

 

Times Tales. They come pretty highly recommended in my area and are one of Cathy Duffy's top picks. Might be worth looking into. HTH!

[Karen FL]

We are using Times Tales. In fact we started today. DS, 9 y/o had no difficulty memorizing the facts using the pictures and stories provided.

~Karen~

[JenniferB]

Flashmaster--I like this a fuzz better than the Math Shark. If you're buying new, buy Flashmaster. If you haven't bought it, buy it. BUY IT. It has nice chunkings of the problem sets, so you're able to monitor how much they've actually gotten done. You can also see results if you're so inclined.

 

:iagree:This is one of my goals this year too, getting down the math facts! I purchased a Flashmaster to do the trick. A very good friend of mine also uses it and has had great success. I am still just starting out on it, but I do recommend it. I'm seeing progress, and my daughter likes to use it. The younger kids see her use it too, and when they are "old enough" they will surely use it happily.

[Jen500]

The Flashmaster. 10 minutes a day. It's easy to use, we can take it anywhere, I don't have to do any prep, and I can see their progress using the 'See results' button.

[Jenn in Mo]

Times Tales. They come pretty highly recommended in my area and are one of Cathy Duffy's top picks. Might be worth looking into. HTH!

 

Another vote for Times Tales! I had looked at it many times, but never got around to ordering it. I figured we could drill enough to increase speed. We drilled our little hearts out and they knew the facts, but could not get any faster at recall. I was given a copy of Times Tales to review on my blog (it's not posted yet) and was floored at how simple it was. Within 2 weeks, they had cut their time in half. And by 2 weeks, I mean 2 sit-down sessions with mom and 5 minutes of flashcards for the rest of the week. It was so easy!

[AuntieM]

They are now 6th graders (hanging my head a bit, we should have this down by now...). My son does much better than dd (a learning style thing, as you mentioned, OhElizabeth). But they just don't seem to really believe that recall speed is crucial to upper level math.

 

I have come very close to getting Math Shark, but I will look into the Flashmaster instead. I really like the no-prep-but-viewable-results feature. Also, the copy work idea and letting them use the tables while doing work (which my daughter has *had* to do, since she almost refuses to commit the facts to memory....) will help. Now, we'll all relax for the holidays and then come January, I will be the math mom who perseveres!

[Jane]

They are now 6th graders (hanging my head a bit, we should have this down by now...).

 

I've never had my children use multiplication tables, instead we use Times Tales in 2nd-3rd grade. You can google it. To me, it's quicker and easier for the children if they have the basic multiplication facts memorized and Times Tales helps them to do that in about 1.5 hours.

 

Beyond Times Tales, I use Saxon's facts practice worksheets to increase speed recall--even if they are not using Saxon for their math program. My children begin each math lesson with a quick 5 minute drill sheet from Saxon's program. The Saxon 7/6 Tests and Worksheet booklet includes many addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division drill sheets. It also includes sheets on simplifying fractions (which really is additional division practice), percents, decimals, etc. Afterwards, I move on to Saxon's 8/7 Tests and Worksheets booklet which doesn't include much work on basic skills (add,sub,mult,division), but does a great job of drilling in algebraic terms, scientific notation, order of operations, etc.

 

Math Shark is great, but allows for more dilly-dally time in my experience. I therefore prefer the quick and dirty method--five minutes is nothing out of our day and the children can all do their drills in the same five minutes whereas Math Shark would require individual time.

 

Hoping you find what is best for your family...

[gratefulmother]

Several years ago I bought a CD called One Hundred Sheep which on each song incorporates skip counting of 2's-9's. My kids haven't learned multiplication tables yet, but they know these songs pretty well, so I am hoping that will help them when the time comes.

[kbpaulie]

Two free sites that have been helpful to us are:

 

1) This math facts site. You can input the min and max factors, thereby controlling the level/ facts that you're working with. You can also run reports to see what addt'l facts to work on:

 

http://home.indy.rr.com/lrobinson/mathfacts/mathfacts.html

 

2) Although this site might seem overwhelming to some, it's really not. Here you can create your own writing worksheets, allowing you to set-up your own math copywork sheets for free.

 

http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/handwriting_practice_worksheet_maker.html

 

We've also enjoyed a board game called S'Math. Use your tiles to put together equations and gain points. Sort of like math Scrabble.

 

Hope these help some.

KB