How to learn it
First of all, write out the times table that you want to learn. Use a piece of paper to cover everything apart from the first 5 rows. Ask your child to read just the answers putting up one finger for each number that they read (e.g. 3, 6, 9, 12, 15). Their fingers keep track where in the times table they are, and they just have to hear the sequence of numbers. Read through the first five answers three times and then cover the times table and do it again from memory. If your child is successful, then add one more row and repeat – read it three times and then once from memory. Then continue until your child has completed the times table.
Why does it work?
Children often hear too many numbers when learning a times table e.g. 1 x 3 = 3, 2 x 3 = 6… and therefore, their brain gets muddled listening to too many numbers. This technique asks the child to use their fingers to replace the 1x 3 part so that they only have to hear the sequence of the 3 times table 3, 6, 9, 12… That means that the child only has to remember 12 numbers and can therefore learn it much faster.
What next?
This technique will help your child to learn a times table in less than about 10 minutes but then they need to consolidate it. The next day, ask your child to read through the whole times table again three times (just the answers 3, 6, 9…) and then once from memory. If they can remember it, ask them a times tables question e.g. 4 x 3. Get your child to count up in 3s (using their fingers to help track as they go along) until they’ve got to 12. Eventually, your child won’t need their fingers as they’ll remember the answers faster, but their fingers will help them to remember the times table quicker.
Then practise!
Children can sometimes forget things quickly! Even when they’ve moved on to a new times table (you should ideally only learn a new one each week), your child should continue to practise previous times tables to avoid forgetting old ones as they move on.
