The importance of times table knowledge
Learning multiplication facts is most effective through collaboration between school, parents and children.
While we regularly dedicate time to times tables in school, a child’s success is significantly enhanced by independent practice outside of school and alongside parental support.
Developing fluency in the four basic operations (+, -, ×, ÷) is crucial for children. This involves not only quick and confident calculation but also the ability to recognise and apply patterns to problem-solving.
- Knowing times tables facts is crucial for your child’s progression in their maths education.
- Many mental maths activities require a quick recall of multiplication and division facts.
- Children who are secure in their times tables knowledge are able to get to grips with trickier tasks straight away and are far more successful.
- ‘Knowing’ times tables means a child who will be able to recall answers quickly as well as knowing the related division facts eg. 4 x 6 = 24 as well as 24 ÷ 6 = 4.
Expectations
By the end of the year your child should know the following times tables:
How can you support your child at home?
Chanting – Have your child chant out loud the times tables.
This could be the whole number sentence ‘2 times 3 equals 6, 2 times 4 equals 8…’ or it could be just the number sequence ‘2, 4, 6, 8 …’. Have fun with it! See if they can do it in different voices like the robot, like a parrot or a silly voice. Can they shout it out loud, can they whisper it?
Flash cards – Create flashcards to help your child.
You could select certain facts they keep getting stuck on rather than the whole set.
Timed – Time your child and make it into a competition.
Can they beat their last score? Put the timer on for 1 minute and see how many questions they can answer. https://www.online-stopwatch.com/
Bingo – Make it into a game.
Write the multiplication questions on separate pieces of paper and place in a bowl. Make a 3 by 3 square bingo card each and write 9 of the answer numbers onto it. Take it in turns to draw a question out – if the answer’s on your card, cross it off. The winner is the first to cross off all their answers.
Number wheel – Create a number wheel and see how quickly the can fill it in. To make it a fun challenge, mix up the numbers (1-12 in yellow).
Quick question – Fire questions at your children anywhere and everywhere! Take them by surprise and see how quickly they can respond.
Online resources
- Mathletics
- Purple Mash also has a maths section full of fab games
- https://www.timestables.co.uk/
- https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
- https://tablestest.com/
- https://www.transum.org/Tables/Times_Tables.asp
- https://www.coolmathgames.com/1-number-games
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z97rdnb#zw6k7v4
You can also support your child by purchasing workbooks that they can use to practise and complete at home. CGP have some great maths workbooks. These can be purchased on their website, amazon or in many popular bookstores.
Key vocabulary
Factor – One number is a factor of another if it divides or ‘goes into’ it exactly (without any left over, a remainder). E.g. 6 is a factor of 30 because it goes into it 5 times, but is not a factor of 33 because after dividing there is a remainder of 3.
Multiple – These are the numbers that you find in a times table. E.g. 20 is a multiple of 5, 4, 2 and 10 because it is found in all of those times tables. The multiples of 5 are 5, 10, 15, 20 etc.
Product – A product is the answer you get when you multiply two or more numbers together. E.g. the product of 3 and 4 is 12 (3 x 4 = 12).
Groups of/ lots of – 3 groups of 5 are 15, 3 lots of 5 are 15 (3 x 5 = 15).
Prime – A prime number will only divide equally between 1 and itself e.g. 7, 11. The first ten prime numbers are: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23 & 29.
Square number – A whole number multiplied by itself for example: 4 × 4 = 16, so 16 is a square number.
Array – As shown, an array is a visual representation of multiplication. Shown are 3 rows of 5 with 15 in total.
