Making Times Tables Memorization Fun & Easy!
by Donnalyn Yates
“Why do I have to memorize my times tables?” your child wails. “It’s boring and I hate math!” What is your response to such an outburst? If you are like most parents, you say, “Because you will always need to know how much 7 x 9 is!”
That never seems to be a good answer for a frustrated third grader. He or she is really begging for help! But the only method you know is using flash cards, and that doesn’t seem to do the trick and besides, it’s boring! Boring for you and for your child!
There is an answer to this dilemma. How about turning math into fun stories with pictures and rhymes?
Teaching the concept of math is vital and absolutely necessary. But when it comes to memorization of the times tables, why not provide some simple memory techniques to help your child retain facts?
Research proves that several memory strategies are needed in order to effectively memorize information. Pictures, rhymes and stories are powerful tools to use in storing information in the brain. Memorizing all the times tables can be boring and ineffective or a lot of fun and easy! Your child needs something to jog his or her memory.
Try making up a story or a rhyme with a picture so an association can be made. Assign symbols to the numbers to be multiplied. How about this idea for 7 x 9 = 63?
The 7 could be a boy named Kevin in the shape of a seven. 9 could be Nina the porcupine, in the shape of a nine. Now you have characters and the making of a story.
Kevin (7) and Nina (9) went for a walk to find a tree to climb. They walked and walked and finally found the perfect tree and started climbing it. But the trunk of the tree was covered with sap. It was a “sticky tree” which rhymes with the product 63.
Follow up by drawing a picture of Kevin in the shape of a seven, and Nina in the shape of a nine, climbing a sticky tree. Write the words “sticky tree” under the 63. The division reciprocal is easy too. When your child is asked, 63 ÷ 7, (63) is a reminder of the “sticky tree,” (7) is Kevin and of course the other character in the story is Nina (9). It’s a very fast, fun and effective method for teaching multiplication and division.
By knowing if your child is a visual, auditory or kinesthetic learner, memorization becomes much easier. When you focus the teaching method to a particular learning style, students absorb the information faster and understand it better.
Visual learners respond to the picture and remember the story easily. Auditory learners love to retell the story, talk about it and teach it to another child. By acting out the story, kinesthetic learners remember the facts.
The main point is, be creative! Realize not all students learn the same way. Open your child’s mind to discover what works best for him or her. Remember, the brain rejects boring material but remembers things that are stimulating and fun!
Donnalyn Yates – donnalyn@memoryjoggers.com – has a Masters in Education and is a popular educational consultant and speaker at conventions on memory techniques in education. She is the author of Memory Tips for Math and has developed several highly successful memory products (including addition/subtraction and multiplication/division learning systems) that are available at http://www.memoryjoggers.com
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