For parents and teachers
MultiplicationGrades 2–5
Times tables that stick: help for Grades 2–5
A pause at a times-table question calls for a choice, not just more questions. Check the meaning with equal groups, build an unknown fact from a known one, then try it with the answer hidden. Examples cover Grades 2–3 and Grades 4–5.
At the kitchen table after dinner, Sam watches his daughter pause at 3 × 4. He reaches for a blank sheet, wondering whether to ask her to copy the table or help her work out this one answer. Before choosing, he asks, “What could you show me with counters?”
Find out what needs practice
The pause may mean the groups are unclear, there is no known fact to start from, or the answer is not coming to mind without help. A blank answer alone does not tell you which help to offer.
A completed table gives your child somewhere to look up an answer. Copying it makes another written reference, but does not show whether the answer can be recalled without looking. Working with groups shows how the total is found; a question with the answer hidden checks recall.
At home or in class, start with one fact rather than a whole table. Let the child show what they can do before supplying the answer.
Choose the next step for a small fact
1. Can your child give the answer straight away from memory, without counting or working it out, and then explain a way to check it?
- Yes: Set this fact aside for now. Ask it again after a different task, with the answer and working out of view.
- No: go to question 2
2. Can your child show the first number as the number of equal groups, with the second number of counters in each group?
- Yes: go to question 3
- No: Build those groups together. Point to each group, count the total, and say the complete multiplication sentence. Leave the counters in view while your child explains what each number means.
3. Is there at least one group, and does your child know the total for one fewer group?
- Yes: Start with that known total. Add the counters in the final group, then say the complete multiplication sentence.
- No: Find the total by counting the counters, keeping the groups separate. Say the complete multiplication sentence and keep this working for the later recall check.
Grades 2–3: build one fact from another
Find 3 × 4 when 2 × 4 = 8 is already known.
- Make three groups of four counters. Here, 3 tells us how many groups, and 4 tells us how many counters are in each group.
Show step 2
Point to two groups. Their total is the known fact: 2 × 4 = 8.Show step 3
Include the final group of four. Work out 8 + 4 = 12.Show step 4
Say the whole fact: “Three groups of four make twelve. Three times four is twelve.”
Answer: 3 × 4 = 12.
Why Sam keeps the counters
Sam’s daughter makes three groups of four and points to two of them. She knows those two groups contain eight counters, so he asks her to include the last group. She adds four and gets twelve.
For this question, copying the table would not show Sam anything more about her understanding. The counters have shown him a useful starting point: she can use a fact she knows to find the one she could not recall.
Grades 4–5: separate the fact from the tens
A larger calculation adds another question: what does each digit stand for? In 60 × 7, the 6 stands for six tens, not six ones.
Can your child answer 6 × 7 without help? If not, use the small-fact questions above before tackling the tens. If yes, move straight to asking how that answer changes when the six ones become six tens.
If the small fact is right but the larger answer is wrong, ask your child to show 60 as six bundles of ten. This checks that 60 means six tens, rather than sending them back to practise a fact they already know.
Grades 4–5: use a fact in a larger calculation
Find 6 × 7, then use that fact to find 60 × 7.
- Suppose 5 × 7 = 35 is known. Six groups of seven contain those five groups and one more group of seven.
Show step 2
Add the last group: 35 + 7 = 42. So 6 × 7 = 42.Show step 3
For 60 × 7, say 60 as six tens. Six tens multiplied by seven make forty-two tens.Show step 4
Forty-two tens make 420. Keep the word “tens” in the explanation so the size of the answer is clear.
Answer: 6 × 7 = 42, and 60 × 7 = 420.
What to do at the later recall check
After a different task, ask the original fact again. If the answer is correct, choose a different fact next. If it is wrong or missing, uncover the saved working and ask your child to explain it before trying that same fact with the working hidden again.
Avoid adding several new facts at that point. That changes the task before you have checked the first one. Leave out a timer while you are deciding whether the child needs help with the groups, the calculation or recall.
When to talk to the teacher
If your child still cannot build and explain the groups after you have shown an example together, talk to the teacher. Also ask for guidance if they can explain one fact but cannot get started on the multiplication homework without you supplying each step.
Bring the actual question and a short note of what your child said or made. Ask which facts to focus on and how the school shows the working. That gives you a shared starting point instead of another full table to copy.
Back at the kitchen table
After putting the dinner plates away, Sam returns to 3 × 4 with the counters out of sight. His daughter says twelve straight away from memory, then explains the check: eight plus another four makes twelve.
He leaves that fact there for now. His next check will be another small question, chosen by what she can explain rather than by how much blank space remains on the page.
Quick review: Grades 2–3
1Cover the earlier working. What is 3 × 4? If you need a starting point, use 2 × 4 = 8.
12. Two groups of four make eight; one more group adds four. So 8 + 4 = 12.
1. Cover the earlier working. What is 3 × 4? If you need a starting point, use 2 × 4 = 8.
Answer: 12. Two groups of four make eight; one more group adds four. So 8 + 4 = 12.
2What is 4 × 2? Show four groups of two. If you know 3 × 2 = 6, how can you use it?
8. Start with three groups of two, then add the last group: 6 + 2 = 8.
2. What is 4 × 2? Show four groups of two. If you know 3 × 2 = 6, how can you use it?
Answer: 8. Start with three groups of two, then add the last group: 6 + 2 = 8.
Questions parents ask
Does working out an answer count as knowing the fact?
Working it out, aloud or in their head, shows a way to find the answer. Recall means the answer comes straight away from memory, without counting or working it out. Keep those two questions separate when choosing what to practise.
Was this guide helpful?
Related guides
Ready to practice?
Put it into practice with a free printable worksheet, Kindergarten to Grade 8. No account, no sign-up.
Find a worksheet