Times tables practice that actually sticks

Multiplication facts are not the goal of math, but they are the tools for almost everything that comes after: multi-digit multiplication, long division, fractions, area. When 7 × 8 takes ten seconds of counting, every bigger problem becomes slow and tiring, and it is easy to lose your place.

Schools expect facts to be quick by the end of third grade. The Common Core standards say students should know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers by then, and the Texas standards ask third graders to recall facts up to 10 by 10 with automaticity. That does not mean your child has to be fast in second grade. It means steady practice through third grade pays off.

The multiplication chart looks like a hundred facts. It is really much less, because every fact has a twin: 3 × 8 and 8 × 3 are the same. Once your child knows that, the work is cut nearly in half.

1. 1Twos, fives and tens. These connect to counting by 2s, 5s and 10s, which most kids already know.
2. 2Ones and zeros. Quick rules: anything times 1 stays the same, anything times 0 is 0.
3. 3Doubles of the doubles: the fours. Double the twos fact, then double again.
4. 4Nines. There is a pattern (more on that below).
5. 5Threes and sixes. Six is double three.
6. 6Squares. 3 × 3, 4 × 4, 6 × 6, 7 × 7, 8 × 8. Kids tend to like these.
7. 7The last few. By now only a handful remain, like 6 × 7, 7 × 8 and 6 × 8. Give them extra attention.

Memory is the goal, but strategies are how you get there. A child who can work out a fact they have forgotten is much calmer than one who just has to guess.

Use a fact you know

If 6 × 7 will not stick, start from 5 × 7, which is easier. Then add one more 7: 5 × 7 + 7 = 42. So 6 × 7 = 42.

Double it

Fours are twos doubled: 2 × 7 = 14, double that and 4 × 7 = 28. Eights are fours doubled: double 28 and 8 × 7 = 56.

The nines pattern

In the nines, the tens digit is one less than the number you are multiplying by, and the two digits add up to 9. For 9 × 6, the tens digit is 5, and 5 plus 4 makes 9, so 9 × 6 = 54. Another way: 10 × 6 = 60, then take away one 6 to get 54.

Break apart bigger numbers

For 12 × 9, split 12 into 10 and 2: 10 × 9 = 90 and 2 × 9 = 18, and 90 + 18 = 108. This is the same idea that partial products use in multi-digit multiplication.

Short and often beats long and rare. Five minutes most days does more than an hour on Sunday.

• One family at a time. Spend a few days on just the sixes, mixed up, before adding them to the rest.
• Car and kitchen quizzes. Ask a fact, they answer, they ask you one. Kids love catching an adult out.
• Flash cards in three piles. “Know it,” “Getting there” and “Not yet.” Only practice the last two piles. Watching the first pile grow is very motivating.
• Cards or dice. Flip two cards or roll two dice and multiply. The first to say the answer keeps the cards.
• Write the twins. When they learn 7 × 8, they write 8 × 7 next to it, along with the matching division facts, 56 ÷ 8 and 56 ÷ 7.
• Use it for real. Six packs of four yogurts, three rows of eight cupcakes. Everyday multiplication sticks better than a worksheet.

Every child has two or three facts that keep slipping. That is normal. Try making a silly sentence or picture for each one, writing it on a sticky note on the bathroom mirror, or going back to the strategy for it every time until the answer comes on its own.

If many facts are still slow by the end of third grade, keep practicing, but do not hold back the rest of math. A times table on the desk lets your child keep learning long division and fractions while the facts catch up. Our post on math anxiety has more on keeping practice low stress.

MathPad builds practice sets from its own math engine by grade and topic, so you can make a short set of facts to work through on the pad. Your child earns stars and keeps a streak going, and the guide gives a hint on a wrong answer instead of just marking it.

There is a short summary on the times tables practice page, and our long division guide shows where the facts get used next.