Learn multiplication facts by understanding them.

Multiplication Facts. Use what you know to work out what you don’t know.

Part 1. The Introduction.

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Here’s the challenge: 121 facts (Fig.1)

There are over 200 Pins on Pinterest about learning these facts. Some involve songs, some involve pictures, some involve stories. Most involve memorising.

Some people think anyone can memorise all these facts. Usually they think that because they memorised them all. The reality is that a pretty high percentage of children do not remember them all. Especially if they are pressurised to produce an answer quickly.

So, here’s a challenge for this virus lockdown time. Master the times tables facts the mathematical way, the evidence-based way.

There’s a word link you’ll need: ‘6 lots of 5’ is the same mathematically as ‘6 times 5’. It describes multiplication more clearly.

The facts most people know. The facts you’ll need to work out all the other facts.        

                        0x            1x            2x            5x            10x

Often in maths you can use what you know to work out what you don’t know or what you don’t remember. It takes a bit of understanding of maths and of the language of maths, but that’s not a bad thing. In a way it’s a 2-4-1 situation. ‘Learn a fact. Learn about + and x.’ For example, if you know that 2 x 6, 2 lots of 6 equals 12, you can work out 3 x 6, 3 lots of 6. So, that means you add one more 6 to 12 to make 3 lots of 6   and    3 x 6 = 18.

But you do need to know, and recall as quickly as possible, the 1x, 2x, 5x and 10x facts. The ‘quickly’ bit is so that you don’t waste memory space recalling the basic facts that you’ll use to work out the new facts.

Linking numbers.

These are the number-links you’ll need: (Fig.2)

An example, using 6 as 5 + 1   6 x 8  

 6 x 8    is   5 lots of 8         plus       1 lot of 8

                  5 x 8 = 40           +          1 x 8 = 8        

So      6 x 8 = 40 + 8 = 48      

More to come in Part 2!