Multiplication Facts Help

It is not unusual for children to have trouble learning the multiplication facts. Fortunately, you can help your daughter learn them if you are willing to work with her every day. To succeed, you will need to keep drill sessions short, review learned facts frequently, and not teach a new set of facts until your daughter has completely memorized the previous set. A fact is not considered learned until the response is three seconds or less.

Begin by making a set of multiplication flash cards with your daughter. Do not include the answers. If you teach the facts in some type of order, it will be easier for your child to learn them. Begin by working with the flash cards that have 1 as the first factor (1x1, 1x2, etc.) followed by those with 1 as the second factor. Next, go to the facts that have 2 as the first factor. Remind your daughter that these facts are equivalent to addition doubles, and then teach her the facts where 2 is the second factor.

Continue by having her learn the facts in which 5 is the first and second factor. The 4's can be taught with a double and double again approach. For example, for 4x3 and 3x4, double 3 is 6 and double again is 12. Continue finding patterns as you help your daughter learn different sets of facts.

Whenever your child doesn't know a fact, don't tell her the answer -- answers that come easy are not retained. Instead, show her how to find the answer. For example, if she doesn't know 3x4, have her draw 3 parallel horizontal lines and 4 parallel vertical lines that intersect the 3 horizontal lines. Then have her count the intersections to get the answer 12. She should also write out the problem. Good Luck!