Help Your Child Memorize Multiplication Math Facts Once and For All

My last blog post discussed how to memorize spelling words that don’t follow phonetic rules by using visualization skills. The same principal of visualizing spelling words in the mind’s eye for long-term retention applies to learning math facts as well.

As we all know, learning the multiplication tables quickly and easily is a basic foundational skill for many aspects of higher math. It is imperative to learn the multiplication tables well. However, many students struggle with this skill due to poor visualization skills. There is not time to skip count every time a math problem is done. A child that skip counts and puts in an excessive amount of effort to complete even the most basic math problem will always struggle with math concepts – not to mention the extra amount of time he or she will need to complete math homework. In addition, story problems cannot be completed without visualizing the language in the problem. Visualization is how the brain understands and remembers language. If the child cannot visualize the words in the story problem, then the problem will not have meaning, and he or she will not know how to complete the task. Even making change with money is difficult without visualizing.

A past client was a teacher and had been homeschooling her daughter for three years. Her 11 year old daughter still did not have her multiplication math facts memorized, even after significant drill at home over the last several years. Within one 30 minute session with a focus on visualization, her daughter learned 60% of the 3’s times table. This mother’s jaw appeared to have dropped to the floor by the end of the session. She was shocked that her daughter had retained more in one 30 minute session than she had in the last several years of practice. Situations like this are common in our office, and occur when the brain is used in the most efficient way for learning.

In my ebook Beyond Tutoring: Strategies to Improve Reading, Spelling, Comprehension and Memory, I detail how to use the visualization technique to remember spelling words, and the same principal can be applied to math facts.