It is imperative for a child's success in elementary school Mathematics that he memorize the multiplication tables in Grades 3 and 4. Failure to do so will negatively impact his ability to master division, operations with fractions, problem-solving, and other numerical operations he'll need to complete the elementary school curriculum. Memorizing multiplication used to be a long, boring burden.
When I was teaching in a classroom, I assigned one table a week. We drilled them in class and I asked the parents to have the children practice the table of the week in the evening. Some children learned them; others, unfortunately, did not. We didn't have time to keep going back for review. The other items on the curriculum list had to be covered as well.
After retirement, I began to do private tutoring, because I missed the children and also to earn a few extra dollars. I quickly noticed that the children experiencing difficulty in Mathematics were stumbling along mainly because they had not memorized their times tables. Just about then, my granddaughter, who was in Grade 2 that year, gave me a great idea.
She came in one day singing "Brother John", but instead of the normal words, she sang the three times table. It went like this:
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Are you sleeping, are you sleeping, Brother John, Brother John?
3, 6, 9, / 3, 6, 9, /12, 15, 18/ 12, 15, 18?
Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing,
21, 24 27, / 21, 24, 27,/
Ding, ding, dong. Ding, ding, dong.
30, 33, 36, 30, 33, 36.
She knew how to count by 3's! When I asked her what six three's were, she sang, moving her fingers until she had counted 6 different numbers. "Six times three is eighteen', she proclaimed proudly.
It was one of those "Aha!" moments. I promptly set the words of the other tables to songs familiar to children and haven't had a problem teaching the times tables since. For those who might find them useful, I'll write them below.
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Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,
4, 8 12, 16,/ 20, 24, 28,/
Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you.
32, 36, 40,/ 44, 48.
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The five and ten times tables the children usually knew by heart, so I skipped those.
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Ring around a rosy, a pocket full of posies,
6, 12 18 24, / 30 36 42 48
Husha, husha, we all fall down.
54, 60, / 66, 72./
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Wewish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas,
7, 14, 21,/ 28, 35, 42,/
We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.
49, 56, 63, / 70, 77, 84./
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Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream,
8, 16, 24,/ 32, 40, 48,/
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.
56, 64, 72, 80, 88 and 96./
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All around the cobbler's bench, the monkey chased the weasel,
9, 18, 27,/ 36, 45, 54,/
The monkey thought 'twas all in fun, pop goes the weasel.
63, 72 and 81,/ 90, 99, 1-oh-8./
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The eleven times table is all twins, and easy to remember: 11, 22, 33, 44...
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Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are;
12, 24, 36, 48,/ 60, 72, 84, 96,/
Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.
108, 120, 132,/ 12 times 12 is one hundred and ninety-six./
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I still assign one table per week, and ask the parent's help with drill. For some reason, they find it easier to practice in musical form than in the old sing-song repetition method we used in school. Invariably, the kids return the next week, singing their table and grinning like monkeys; they are very proud of themselves.
Every child needs to memorize the multiplication tables. This is the easiest method I've found, and I have my granddaughter's teacher to thank for it. I only wish I had learned it during those long years when I was still in the classroom. I sincerely hope this method may be of some use to those parents, teachers and children who are still struggling with these troublesome number facts.
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