Should kids know their multiplication facts?
When teaching math, whether in the home or in the classroom, having the multiplication facts memorized speeds things up. If you allow a calculator, you’re still reducing the speed of doing other math calculations or thinking.
But is there some way to memorize these and make them fun?
I scrounged the web and found some resources for multiplication tricks.
Poems as Multiplication Tricks
Inspired by @Leighbra at Hearth to Heart, I found this list of math poems that can help kiddos (and grownups) remember some of the facts. My favorite: I ate and ate and got sick on the floor. Eight times eight is 64.
Seven
This is an impressive list of various ways to multiply by seven. Tricks to Multiply by Seven
4, 6, 9
In addition to tips on the 4s and 6s, this one shows a way to multiply 9s without using your fingers. Which means you don’t have to waste time putting down and picking back up your pencil! Easy Math Tricks: Multiplying by 4, 6, 9 and Beyond
Using Fingers
This article gives three tricks to multiply using your fingers. Not my favorite, only because I hate to put down my pencil. But if you are doing purely mental multiplication, this article’s a great resource! Three finger tricks for multiplying
Multiplication Tricks for Other Numbers
Here’s a list of various sites and articles that give multiplication tricks for many numbers:
- Multiplication Tips and Tricks by Math Is Fun (with a handy chart!)
- Multiplication tricks by Home-Ed
- Math Tips and Tricks
The one I made up
I created this while in class one day. I have a hard time remembering the difference between 7 x 8 and 9 x 6. So I thought about it and saw that 56 = 7 x 8, which is 5, 6, 7, 8 in order!
Do you have one? Please share with us!
Related articles
- The Real Place Kids Learn Math
- Confessions of a Calculator Addict
- How to Use Flashcards when Teaching Math
- Using Toys as Curriculum Tools to Teach Arithmetic
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Love these! My son is tackling the multiplication tables & these new ones will come in handy.
I STILL remember my 3rd grade teacher teaching us “8 & 8 fell on the floor, when they got up they were 64” & it wasn’t even about being sick!
Also, thanks for the linky love, going to go bother you on Twitter now! 🙂
Thanks for the comment, Eryn.
That is a much nicer way to remember it. I guess it depends on if the child likes gross things, too. 😀
They’re all so different, we’ve got to keep creating things to make sure we engage them all.
My kids both like using TimezAttack (http://www.bigbrainz.com/) to help learn multiplication facts.
Looks crazy cool! I’m downloading the free version now.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing this, Shauna!
I may have missed it, but my favorite way to remember the 9’s multiplication table is different than what I saw in any of your links.
Every result multiplying 9 by the factors 1 to 9 always adds up to nine, so that is a quick check to make sure you got it right. But, the answer is always one less than the other factor (not nine). And then you add whatever number makes it add up to nine. Easier to tell the example than to explain, but my son picked up on this right away. Example: 9 * 6 means the first digit is 5 (6-1) and the second digit is 4 (9-5 = 4). I always thought that this was kind of magical!
Love what you are doing – and if I can ever do something to support you in your math mission, please let me know!
-Laurie
I want multiplication tricks for bigger numbers like 9999,57927
you are teaching for single digits
Tricks for those would be fun, Anandarao, but I don’t imagine there’s much use in the real world for knowing how to do it. Although Arthur Benjamin makes a living with it!
My kids learned them quickly using Skip Counting songs to nursery rhyme tunes. It was crazy how fast they memorized them. Here’s the link with the youtube videos, http://planningplaytime.com/2015/02/the-simple-secret-your-kids-need-you-to-know-about-math.html
Very interesting, Amy. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to seeing how these do with others (and with my kids!).