My son did Beast Academy, so he learned his times tables before they taught it in school. If you go to their website and click 'printables' there are free times tables and mixed times tables you can print out. After my son filled these out, he seemed to pretty much get it.
My daughter isn't old enough yet, but I plan to teach her this way when the time comes, too. I don't necessarily trust the common core math methods they are using at their school. Beast Academy explains multiplication in a fun way with cartoons and then the worksheets seemed to make it all click, at least for my son. In fact, he's commented that he's quicker with his multiplication and division facts than with his addition and subtraction facts. I thank Beast Academy for that.
