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times tables by Hari Neocleous
Learning times tables can be fun! Gone are the days where we learnt through fear in front of the dreaded times table wheel. I’m going to show you how you can help your child learn their times tables using pictures and objects you have at home.
hooks and we have the number sentences. Count in ones first, emphasising the sixth number. Then say, ‘let’s try counting in sixes... 6,12,18,24,30’. Write the answers (multiples) on cards, muddle them up and order. Put them on your staircase as you go up and down, counting in sixes before bedtime.
In year two children learn their 2, 5 and 10 times tables. In year three they learn their 3, 4 and 8 times tables. By the end of year four, children need to know all of their times tables up to 12! Conceptual understanding is important. This means having a deeper understanding of multiplication. Write down ‘4x6=’. What does this mean? It means ‘4 groups of 6’, ‘4 lots of 6’, ‘4 times 6’ or ‘4 multiplied by 6’. We can think of multiplication as grouping. 4x6 means four groups of six or six groups of four. It’s also repeated addition, we add the same number of objects again and again 6+6+6+6=24. At home you can use arrays. Arrays are rectangular images, groups of objects arranged in equal rows. Imagine a Lego brick with 8 spots, that’s an array showing 2 groups of 4 or turn it the other way and it’s 4 groups of 2. Paint palettes, chocolate bars and chess boards are arrays. Go on an array treasure hunt and explore! 44 | Cherubs Magazine
Let’s learn the six times tables. Make twelve cards with 6 spots. Focus on 1x6 up to 5x6 first. Show the first card with 6 spots, count the 6 spots and write the number sentence above, ‘1x6=6’. Then do ‘2x6=12’, ‘3x6=18’...each time adding another card.
Continue this process up to 10x6..then finish with 11x6 and 12x6. Find ‘12x6’ by partitioning (splitting the number into tens and ones). Work out 10x6 then 2x6 and add the totals together, 60+12=72 To finish, practise counting in sixes on fingers and each elbow can be 11x6 and 12x6. Be creative. Make it fun! Do something different each day. Draw egg boxes and
Add some memory hooks too. So ‘1x6’ is a 6 on a dice. ‘2x6’ is doubling. For ‘3x6’ I might draw a tiny key and mention a gold key necklace from my 18th birthday. ‘4x6’ is 24 so I knock on the door, (a rhyme and action to make learning ‘stick’). ‘5x6’ is the same as ‘6 lots of 5’, so we find a clock and count in fives, our hand points down as we stamp our feet and shout 30 minutes! It’s practical, there’s repeated addition, we have memory 020 8154 3664
