Times tables practice is it necessary math help

Times Tables Practice - Is It Necessary Math Help?

How necessary is math help for your child, particularly with times tables? The idea of multiplying is simple enough to grasp, especially early on when concrete materials like counters or blocks are used. So why is it important to have the times tables memorized?

Knowing the times tables is one of the cornerstones of success in math. Once the idea is learned, the fastest way to progress in math is to have the sets of numbers memorized.

They need to be memorized so that your child is free to become engaged in new ideas. Picture your child working on a sum, a fraction problem for example. Let's say she is required to multiply both top and bottom of the fraction by seven. Visit math practice for more info. There are two ways she can react to this situation.

Without knowledge of her times tables, your child will stop working on the fraction problem and start thinking about her seven times table. She may sun through the table in her head, count through it with her fingers or look up the solution in the tables grid on the back of her exercise book. Once she has the answer for the first multiplication, she will have to remember why she was looking up the sevens table, what the answer was, and how to solve the fraction problem all at the same time.

This is a difficult task and will quickly lead to errors and frustration for your child. Imagine that happening every single time a multiplication is required.

Now consider this same situation but with memorized tables. When your child sees that a number needs to be multiplied by seven she will be able to put the answer to that in the correct place immediately. This will not only reduce errors from the actual multiplication, but makes learning the new concept of working with the fraction a whole lot easier.

This very scenario can be seen occurring in classrooms across the country every single day. Children who have good basic math skills find new work achievable and so continue to develop. Those with poor basic skills continue to be frustrated and stressed by the subject.

To give your child the best chance at having a positive experience learning math, develop her basic skills. You can help this development by finding good math help resources. Practicing times tables in the correct manner is an absolute must, though this can be livened up with math games to make the whole experience more enjoyable, especially for younger children.