That is the brute force method and is not fun for the child. It is the reason many people hate mathematics. If you are still around, come back and open a thread on the subject and we will discuss how to teach it the fun way. My way leaves reduces the  1 to 10 times tables grid from a 100 facts to 49 in a jiffy and 49 to 9 in a few mins and the entire table into a fun filled 30 mins or so.  As long as your child can do that, 11 to 20 times is a breeze and they will be adding,multiplying  finding the square rood of as many as 6 digits numbers  in their heads in no time. If you do that for them by ten think how much of the fear of mathematics vanishes.  Come on over to social so we can talk.

in 4th standard (4s) at Leonora Govt school, every morning we had to stand and recite the tables right up to 25x25. Ben Moses will listen to us via the intercom.

can't wait to hear more... please do share your wisdom especially for those of us who still have young children

Glad to see you are here. As stated in my original post this is to make mathematics fun and it is magical and  if you learn what I teach you you will be the fun at parties with you math skills. However, it is to help you teach it easily to your child and make them a math wiz as well and not afraid of the subject.

This thread is for you specifically because you are interested enough to create a website.  I have to look for some images on line so I will begin in the next post.

All of this is on the fly so things will come out of order. I am assuming you know the tables already and have the essential math foundation to do basic addition, subtraction etc. I am going to teach you to do all of that  you know in a new way so you can do it in your head.

We can keep this thread going as long as you want ( into calculus and probability) but my promise is to teach you to calculate large numbers in your head add  numbers quickly, square or find the root of any four digit number in a few seconds ( no limit here except how many numbers you remember as a unit) calculate any date forward or backward etc.

Lets begin.

Above is a table with 100 facts...appears hard to grasp but lets cut away the fat.

We can cut away one times since we know one times  any number is the same number.

We can cut away 2 times since 2 is just simple addition 

We can cut away 10 times since every one can recite 10, 20, 30 etc.

That leaves us with 49 facts to be sorted out. That is  not bad for a start.

This is just to illustrate how easy the process is and what to whittle away and where to focus your energy in teaching.

It might appear confusing at times but focus. It is not the way you learnt the table but a way  that makes memorizing it no longer necessary.

Lets continue

Five times is also easy since it always end with with a 0 or a five. The child can simply count 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 50

Actually that is the way you should teach the only hard tables, 3 and 4 times. Begin by have them count 3, 6, 9....to 30 and 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28,32,36,40. If you have them counting in threes and fours for these ten numbers you are almost over. You can then introduce them to your standard form with no trouble

Now comes the tricks....most of the hard part is grasping how little there is to learn to do basic mathematical well.

Trick one is nine times table. Well it is not a trick but a mathematical reality.

9 X I = 09

9 X 2 = 18

9 X 3 = 27

9 X 4 = 36

9 X 5 = 45

9 X 6 = 54

9 X 7 = 63

9 X 8 = 72

9 X 9 = 81

9 X I0 =90

If look carefully at this table, you will see the numbers in the answer always add up to 9.

In the second instance, for example,  we have 9 X 2 = 18

1+8 = 9 or in t he third instance we have 9 X 3 = 27 and 2+7 =9.

An other important fact is the first number in the answer is always one less than the multiplier ie

9 X 2 = 18

Without thinking if is one asks the child what is 9 X 7 ... they would know the first number in the answer is one less than the multiplier ie one less than 7 or 6. 

Per the fact the answer always add up to 9, the child should know the second number is 3  ( since 6+3=9) so the answer to 9X7 is 63!. Explain this trick and 9 times table is done.

I will stop here until you ask some questions then we go on to 20 times or however many times table.

By the way, any one can join in. My promise is to make Kajol a mental math wiz if she is interested and to look at math  in a new way. I do not intend to shut out anyone but I will focus on her as long as she is interested.

Fascinating. You know how it is that things just seem to come together to make a goal or desire materialise? ...well, this is one such case...it seems fortuitous that you talk about this topic at this time just when my interest was piqued as recently as last Saturday when I offered a lift to a wonderful Nun who teaches at my child's catholic school. In the car she was bemoaning the fact that children seem so daunted by tables etc. And she talked about reducing the basic tables to 38 facts and then she talked about further reducing to 28 facts if the nine times are taken out. Similar to your technique re: 9 times she said her trick was to raise in front of your eyes the 10 fingers of both hands. Say you wanted to find 9 x 7, you simply had to find the 7th finger (counting say from the left) and turn it down and then you could SEE your answer -  before the turned down 7th finger, there would be 6 fingers and after the turned down 7th finger there would be 3 fingers. The answer being 63. And it works similarly for all of 9 times up to 9 x 10. 

The ride came to an end all too quickly but I hastily made arrangements for my son (and me) to meet with her in a few weeks when she has a bit more time.  But before she left the car she also talked about there being no need to know beyond 10 times (as in all the way to 19 times)  as you simply needed to split say 14 times into multiplication by 10 and then 4 and add the answers.

I look forward to more wisdom for you. But I need to alert you - there might quickly come a time when I might opt out -- suffice it to say, I am not known for my math skills

It is so cool that you are so willing to share.

Stormborn, this is fascinating & you are right about the old method being "brute force". The real concern has always been (in my opinion) the inability of students to perform simple mathematical tasks without the use of a calculator.

When you can spare the time, please do share more.

In Guyana they teach you what to think; not how to think. I remember the days when we had to repeat the times tables. It was a mindless task. I remember mental arithmetic arrived Friday morning and we had to apply all the multiplication, subtraction, division and addition we learned. Got more than 3-4 wrong and you get a whipping. After the whipping you had to tell the teacher thanks for whipping you. If you did not say thanks, one teacher would call you back and ask you "what do you say when somebody gives you something"? 

Originally Posted by kajol:, I am not known for my math skills

You are exactly who can benefit from participating. Just stay until I can make you add, multiply subtract, divide numbers faster than a calculator more often than not. Even when you are slower you will always be right Would not take long,

Any one can calculate faster than a calculator for arithmetic. Doing mathematics in the head is more natural than doing it on paper.

On paper we do it from right to left. In your head the rule is that you always do it from left to right. You do it the way you say the number. That way you take the constituent parts and perform your mental magic on them quickly and naturally.

Iwill finish up the tables to 20 and start on addition and multiplication in the morning. Actually one does not need to finish the tables. If one knows them up to ten one can do them as far as one care to go.

Stormy, this is very helpful. I am currently tutoring a 4th grader on the tables.

Looking forward for your posts on addition and multiplication. Learnt from the Principal, that they are only required to teach them concepts at this time and not the practical aspects.

Will add some more today. Busy

As a teaser multiplying by 11 is really simple....one to ten is already known. From 10 to 999 ( and beyond) is also a cinch.

Lets multiply  42  by  11

The solution is simple. Add the two  digits, 4+2 and place the sum between the  4 and 2

For example to 42X11 is arrived at by 4+2 =6 and placing the 6 between the 4  and 2 to get 462.  

Even if there is a carry, it works so one can do 11 times any number as long as one can remember the number. Try it to get a feel of multiplying 11 by any two digit number. I will come back to illustrate this for larger numbers

For those who are teachers; I am not. My only experience with this is in home schooling my son, It helped him get it easily. I have always played around with mental mathematics since I was a kid so these were tricks I picked up. Helping him with these tricks made him confident. 

Yes, math can be fun using those simple 'tricks'.

However, memorization is important. You cannot do math without some memorization. Today, most people rely on calculators thereby depriving their brain of activity.

http://prowebpix.com/take-the-...e-how-smart-you-are/

Especially for Stormborn. I guessed some of the math ones.