Many of our parents and grandparents remember endlessly reciting math facts. Today, rote memorization is rather frowned upon — that is, unless students first understand the principles underlying the facts.
No matter your stance on this debate, few people question the need for kids to remember math facts — especially “Times Tables”. There is just no substitute for being able to retrieve multiplications facts quickly, since knowing them makes other math problems so much easier (and quicker) to solve.
Lots of kids pick up math facts quickly — even on their own. Others need help and lots of practice before the facts are cemented into their heads.
Fortunately, lots and lots of tools exists for teaching math facts. Here is a list of products that have helped the students I work with — see if any of these could help your student:
Musical times tables, like THESE from Amazon
Books like THIS ONE from City Creek Press
Timez Attack computer game from Big Brainz
Hands-on tools like THESE from Learning Wrap Ups
Any of the multiplication games, stories, printables and poems found on Clickschooling
Math board games, like MATH BINGO and MATH SCRABBLE
Small toys and gizmos, like THIS from Small World Toys or THIS from Thinkfun
Apps like My Math Flash Cards and CardDroid Math
Let’s not forget, tools for learning facts can easily be made from scratch. Creating flash cards, tables, and charts is very easy to do, and can be done [free] using supplies most people already have on hand. Designing posters to hang on the wall is really simple, too.
Making board games to teach facts is fun, too. Kids love to design their own games, learning all the while without even knowing it!
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preschools in O'Fallon MO says
Thank you for sharing these tools with us. I am sure that the computer game will be most helpful to kids for learning mathematics. As kids love playing video games and computer games, it will be easy for the teacher to teach them.