Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion multiplication table - advice please

Isn't this just lattice multiplication?

well I downloaded the timez attack pc game and DD was really eager to start it and got through the pretest but was nervous at the general feel of the game - dungeons and dark tunnels. She gets frightened easily and still can't watch a lot of disney movies and the like.
Then she met the ogre behind the door and that was it, she was too scared!

I really found the link for multiplication tables for visual learners helpful. I will try that also. Meanwhile are there any other fun games for this purpose?

Thanks for the link Marnie!

slammie - she can chose the palace instead of the dungeon. It's prettier.

let me see if I have other multiplication links here for you

you can check here - this site was recommended to me but I have never tried it or used it. http://www.multiplication.com/games

We love this one too:

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/multiplication-and-division

You can change the age and it has loads of games for all sorts of maths skills

Thanks so much Madoosa! Aha - chose the wrong venue! Will explore the palace this time.

Thanks for link as well, will check it out!

Oh and I forgot to reply to your comment earlier in the thread. Yes, they like incoming 3rd graders to learn those over the summer and want her to be fluent before they will consider placing her in 3rd grade math.

DD is 8.5 and has been skip counting for ages, but she's never had the patience to actually memorize multiplication facts intentionally. A few months ago I picked up an iPad app called Mathtopia that was recommended to me, and it's worked great as for math facts learning. It's sort of like those jewels games, only you have to do math facts to get jewels. Tip: you can set up profiles for each user, but we didn't notice until DD had played it awhile and she was Not Happy when I had to setup profiles so both kids could play, because then she had to start over.

To me an appropriate placement in a maths class means you can pass the year before but only some of the year you are in. If you can pass 3rd grade then the appropriate placement is 4th not 3rd otherwise she still doesn't get to learn anything, is miserable, plays up,and they say she is too young.

Another vote for bigbrainz.com. DS8 hates math facts tests. He understands the concept but it takes him too long to...well, process it and write down the answer. He LOVES this software though. Last night, he was slamming through it and yelling out the answers with a "Take that!"

The game waits for an answer but only for so long before it moves on to another problem. That does frustrate DS who often has the answer just after time runs out; I remind him that this is just a game to help him practice and that seems to help. Overall, a big thumbs-up from DS8!

I wanted to update this thread - finally achieved success with memorizing multiplication facts.

So many of you had great suggestions. Unfortunately none of them really peaked DD's interest. She got over her fright of bigbrainz but the timing issue was causing meltdowns so we stopped that too.

Meanwhile in school, she was grouped with the kiddos who have their multiplication facts down (1st grade), which got her interested in memorizing them again. I heard about "Timestales" from another forum and it's amazing..it worked!! It uses the mnemonic memory method.
http://www.amazon.com/Times-Tales-D...7953&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=times+tales

She watched it last week and by the next day she had memorized her upper multi. facts and recall is getting quicker by the day.

I highly recommend the book we used this summer when DD turned 7. She has better verbal skills so when I stumbled across this book I had to try it. she devoured the book in about 20 min the first day. we left it alone for a month or so then spent about 5 min on it for 5 days in a row to review and she knows them pretty well now. Prior to this she knew some and she understood the concept but in less than an hour she learned up through 10x10. The book assigns each number a picture and then makes up a story that combines the three numbers. One of my daughters favorite is 2 x 8 which is shoe x skate and the story is something about a queen that wanted to skate but only had one skate and one shoe and so she just went in circles and became "sick queen" which sounds like sixteen. They have a picture too which helps solidify the story. Its great for this type of learner.

We tried the big brainz which I think would help alot for speed but my DD was completely freaked out with the giant and froze under the time pressure. Hopefully she will be able to do it when a little older as I think it is a good way to pick up speed.

Oh, I almost forgot to list the book we used:

Memorize in Minutes: The Times Tables, Teaching Manual Paperback – July 15, 2000
by Alan Walker

We found it on amazon