Ways to Build Multiplication Skills at Home: From Zero to Hero
Is your child starting to learn multiplication facts? Does your child struggle with remembering multiplication facts or solving multiplication problems?
This blog post will give you 5 tips for learning multiplication facts at home. Read on for ways to help your child master those multiplication facts!
Before we get started:
If your child isn’t ready to learn multiplication facts, they may need to review multiplication basics to understand what multiplication is and how it works. You can click here to read tips for beginning multiplication concepts.
Tip 1: Practice facts everywhere!
Many children just need to practice, practice, practice to learn those multiplication facts. Make a habit of practicing multiplication facts wherever you are:
Call out multiplication facts to your child while you’re in the car or keep a set of flashcards in the seat pocket.
Waiting for a doctor’s appointment or for a sibling to get out of practice? Practice those multiplication facts.
Practice facts while getting ready for school in the morning.
Ask grandparents or a family friend to practice math facts with them. Kids love showing off what they know to relatives and friends!
Bonus points: Download an app for practicing multiplication facts that can be used wherever you are
Tip 2: Practice in many different ways.
As a parent, you know that every kid learns differently. Flashcards work well with some kids, but not others. Same with worksheets, apps, and any other method. Have a variety of multiplication facts practice options for your child. These can include:
Apps
Learning Websites
Worksheets -I have an easy-to-use multiplication facts workbook available by clicking here! It includes mazes, color-by-number, mystery facts, and many other fun pages that go beyond regular and boring multiplication worksheets. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Multiplication tables
Multiplication games
Tip 3: Practice in an active way.
Some kids need to get up and MOVE. They don’t have the patience for flashcards or worksheets, and that’s okay! Here are some ideas for active multiplication facts practice:
Multiplication hopscotch - Play hopscotch and multiply by the number the stone lands on before jumping.
Multiplication war - This can be played like the game “War” with a regular deck of cards. Instead of laying down one card, each player lays down two cards at a time and multiplies them. Whoever has the greatest product gets the cards. It can also be played with multiplication flashcards.
Multiplication songs - These can be found on YouTube.
Multiplication dice - Kids roll two dice and multiply them together. You can play this the same way as the war game.
Multiplication snowball fight - Write multiplication facts on small pieces of paper. Crumple them up. These are your snowballs. Have a snowball fight! If you are hit, you must open the snowball and answer the fact..
Tip 4: Show progress to give kids motivation to keep going.
All of us, even adults, need to see our progress. It gives us the motivation to keep trying! Make a simple chart and cross off or put a sticker on math facts as your child masters them. You may want to provide a small treat or prize when your child fills the chart or reaches a certain milestone.
Tip 5: Don’t give up!
We all know that children develop physically at different paces, and the same goes for their learning! Just because your friend’s child mastered multiplication facts in no time doesn’t mean that your child will or that he or she needs to. Patience is key here. Stick with it and don’t quit. Try a variety of methods if your child is stuck.
I sincerely hope this post helps make learning multiplication facts less stressful at your home. If one of these methods works for you, I’d love to hear about it at laura@thirdgradeengaged.com
