A quick over view to learning the times tables

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I was asked again the other day about learning the times tables. Is it worth putting in the effort? Definitely as they are at the foundations of so many things in maths. In a nutshell this is the order I'd probably work in

When it comes to the times tables, I wouldn’t try and learn the times tables in order, and I wouldn’t try to rush learning them either.

I’d start with the 2’s because it is just adding the same number together twice (6x2 = 6+6)

 

I’d then go for the 10’s because you simply put a 0 on the end of what ever you are multiplying by 10.

Next go 11’s as that again has a simple pattern to follow: write the number you are multiplying by down twice: 2x11= 22, 5x11= 55, 7x11 = 77. (There are tricks for numbers greater than 11x11 but don’t worry about that for now).

5’s also has a pattern of ending in a 5 or 0. If you are confident with odds and evens, odds will end in a 5, whilst evens will end in a 0.

 

The 3’s, 4’s, 8’s don’t really have much of a pattern, so I’d put those on hold until the end.

The 9’s have a few patterns. The first is to write them down (which if you will need the times table more than once, might actually be time saving with any of the times tables) and you’ll see the tens column goes up by 1 each time and the 1’s column goes down by 1 each time:

09

18

27

36

45

(etc)

You can double check you are right because if you are the digits will add together to make 9: 2+7=9, 3+6 =9, etc.

There is another similar trick where if you are asked 5x9

Go to the number before the 9 (4) and ask what you would need to add to that 4 to make 9 (5). Put those numbers together to make 45.

Or you can use the finger trick.

Hold your 2 hands out in front of you

Imagine you are asked 4x9.

Place the 4th finger down. Everything to the left of that finger is a 10, everything to the right is a 1.

Starting at the first finger on the left, count in 10’s then state stop when you get to the finger that has been put down. So 10, 20, 30, stop.

Now everything to the right of the finger that is down is a 1, so there should be 6 fingers down giving you the answer 63. (Here’s a YouTube video I made a while ago, it might explain it better: https://youtu.be/z5eeZntHn1M?si=LQBZKjMKyMXXPips)

The 6’s, I’d multiply by 5, then by 1 and add the answers together (7x6 would be 7x5 (35) and 7x1 (7) 35+7 =42)

 

The 7’s can use a similar tactic, just split it into 5x and 2x and add your answers together: 8x7

8x5 =40

8x2 =16

40+16 =56

 

I hope this helps

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