How to learn the multiplication table quickly and easily

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

These tricks will save your student's summer.

1. Hack the system

Usually the multiplication table on the back of school notebooks looks like this.

The mere sight of these endless columns with numbers can drive an energetic elementary school student into despair. Therefore, without a doubt, take a bold marker and cross out the mathematical torture in front of the child's eyes. This is not just a performance, but a way to create a positive attitude.

Instead of complex examples, offer the student the Pythagorean table.

This is the real multiplication table. Show your child how easy it is to use.

The result of multiplying two digits is the number that is at the intersection of the row and column with the corresponding digits. For example, to multiply 3 by 4, it is enough to mentally draw two lines: one horizontal from the number 3 in the left column, and the second vertical from the number 4 in the top row. The result is 12.

2. Explain that the task is twice as easy as it sounds

Multiply 3 by 4. Now ask the child to swap the numbers: choose 3 not in a vertical column, but in a horizontal row. And 4, respectively, in the column to the left. Note that the result will be the same. Both 3x4 and 4x3 are 12.

This rule is called the commutative property. Or in childish language, "the result does not change from a change in the places of the multipliers."

There is no need to memorize how many will be 3 × 4 or 4 × 3. It is enough to learn that the numbers 3 and 4 in any order, when multiplied by each other, give 12.

A simple conclusion follows from the commutativity property. The multiplication table is half as small and simpler than it seems. If you know how much 4 × 7 will be, then you automatically know how much 7 × 4 will be. You do not need to learn this additionally.

3. Help your child understand the physical meaning of multiplication

This can be done by drawing rectangles on the table with sides corresponding to the numbers to be multiplied.

For example, this is how you can show what 2 × 4 is - these are two rows of four cells in each.

Invite your child to count how many cells fit in the resulting rectangle. So he himself will find that 2 × 4 = 8.

Scan or print several copies of the Pythagoras table and, together with the student, draw other rectangles - horizontal, vertical, small and large, counting how many cells there are. Thus, at the same time, you use visual memory: remembering how much it will be, for example, 3 × 4, the child will imagine the corresponding figure - and will easily answer.

4. Find patterns in the table

When a child discovers a pattern on his own, he remembers it forever. This is an easier and more efficient way to master the multiplication table than cramming.

Here are some patterns to watch out for.

• When multiplied by 1, any digit remains the same.
• Multiplication by 2 is just a number to which it was added. For example, 3 × 2 means that 3. 8 × 2 means 8 + 8.
• All examples with multiplication by 5 have a result that ends in 5 or 0.
• To multiply any even number by 5, you need to take its half and assign 0. For example, 6 × 5: take half of 6 - this is the number 3 - and add zero to it: it turns out 30.
• When multiplied by 9, the sum of the digits in the result will necessarily be 9. For example, 2 × 9 = 18 (1 + 8 = 9). 3 × 9 = 27 (2 + 7 = 9). Etc.
• To multiply any number by 10, it is enough to add zero to it on the right.

5. Teach in small portions

Don't try to memorize everything in one sitting. Start by multiplying by 1, 2, and 3, and devote a day or two to each topic. This will gradually prepare your child to absorb more complex information.

When the student has figured out and mastered the simplest columns, move on to more complicated numbers: first to multiply by 4–7, and then by 8–9.

6. Repeat

The more often the better. First, ask in order, and when the answers are confident - randomly. Watch the pace too: at first, give more time to think, but gradually ask your child to respond faster.

7. Print or buy educational posters

Better a few. Hang them in places where the child spends a lot of time - in the children's (play area), above the desk, on the refrigerator.

Posters should be large and colorful. You can also use those that do not depict the Pythagorean table, but standard examples. In any case, the child will gaze at the colorful image, and it will be fixed in the memory.

8. Teach your child math tricks

Here are some simple examples.

Focus multiplied by 7

You will need some dice (dice). Tell your child that no matter how many dice he throws away, you will immediately tell the sum of the dots on their top and bottom edges - even though the bottom of the dice is not visible.

The secret is simple: the cubes are arranged in such a way that the sum of the points on the top and bottom surfaces is always 7. Thus, to find out the correct answer, it is enough to multiply the number of dice thrown by 7.

Invite your child to show the trick to a brother or sister, grandparents, and friends. Have the student change the number of cubes. This will help him to consolidate the multiplication by 7 in his memory.

Focus multiplied by 9

Turn both palms towards you. There will be 10 fingers in front of you. Mentally number them from 1 to 10: the left thumb is 1, the index finger is 2, and so on, up to the thumb of the right hand, which will correspond to 10. Then proceed as follows.

• Select the number you want to multiply 9.
• Press the corresponding finger down.
• Count how many fingers will remain to the left of the pressed one - these will be tens in the desired answer. On the right are units.

For example, you need to multiply 9 by 2. You press your second finger - your left index finger. To the right of it remains 1 finger (number of tens), to the left - 8 (number of units). Correct answer: 9 × 2 = 18.

9. Show that math is good

Children, and adults alike, find it difficult to memorize abstract things - those that are not used in everyday life. Your task is to demonstrate to your child that the multiplication table is very useful. This can be done in a number of ways.

For example, invite a student who is going out for a walk to treat friends with candy or cookies. “Katya, Vasya, Platon and Ira are waiting for you on the set. You are going to give each of them 2 candies. How many sweets do you need to take?"

Alternatively, have your child count the total number of wheels of six cars passing by. Or find out how many people will go to the picnic if you are going to meet four families, each with three people.

10. Play math

Today you can buy many tutorials with colorful pictures and thoughtful logic problems. These exercises turn learning into a fun game. But you can play without spending money on books.

Use ready-made dice games

Any walker will do in which the player advances the number of cells indicated by the thrown die. Tell your child that today all throws are considered double (or, let's say, triple). As a rule, children really like the idea of going two or three times further than the cube shows.

To add interest to the game, regularly try to cheat. For example, say: "So, I got 4, which means I have to go twice as far … 10 cells!" Let the child correct you.

Encourage your child to get ahead of the calculator

You will need all the same dice (if the child learns multiplication from 1 to 6) or a deck of playing cards without pictures (if we are talking about multiplying numbers from 6 to 10). Have the student roll two dice or draw two cards from the deck.

When you see the numbers, you multiply them on the calculator, and the child goes through the same procedure in his head. Whoever copes faster gets a point.

The game can last, for example, up to 7 points. The winner will receive a pre-agreed prize.

11. Don't stress learning

Often, controlling children's learning, parents get too carried away and make the same mistakes. This is what you should never do.

• Forcing the child to study if he does not want to. Try to motivate: studying should be interesting, not torture.
• Scold for mistakes and scare with bad grades.
• Use classmates as an example. When you are compared to someone, it is unpleasant. And often arouses protest: "Since I am worse, I will not learn anything at all!"
• Learn everything at once. It is easy for a child to be frightened and tired of a large amount of new information.
• Ignore successes. Praise your child when he completes the assignments. This will reduce stress and encourage the urge to study further.

This material was first published in January 2017. In July 2020, we updated the text.