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Maths homework help please

(96 Posts)
Ginny42 Thu 19-Jan-17 21:55:17

My DGS has difficulties remembering his x tables. Asked to reel them off and he can do, but the teacher gives them 100 mixed x tables questions and he struggles.

Any bright ideas please? My DD has found some songs which they're learning at home together and she's hoping the different tunes will trigger the answers.

Thought I'd try gransnetters for some tried and tested strategies. Grateful for any help.

cake45 Fri 26-Jan-24 12:33:21

next time if you need help with math homework you can freely use oneconvert.com/unit-converters/weight-and-mass-converter/ounces-to-pounds online converter. it is super handy if you need to convert math units

hary90stone Thu 23-Nov-23 15:06:33

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NotSpaghetti Sun 13-Aug-23 10:19:25

growstuff

I used Dienes at school in the early 1960s. It wasn't Montessori.

Yes. I think it may be based on Montessori which is why I asked if anyone knows.

NotSpaghetti Sun 13-Aug-23 10:17:54

I am another blown away by the beauty of mathematics

I was taught Maths at a Montessori school initially (up to age 10) and I think those methods helped me see the magic and patterning in maths - as in nature.
Thank you to my early teachers.

Grannybags Sun 13-Aug-23 09:52:43

MerylStreep

I hope the lad has grasped learning tables by now.
*he’s had 5 years from 2017 to practice*

🤣🤣

MerylStreep Sun 13-Aug-23 09:08:01

I hope the lad has grasped learning tables by now.
he’s had 5 years from 2017 to practice

Grantanow Sun 13-Aug-23 09:01:24

I think understanding that multiplication is repeated addition is important.

growstuff Sun 28-May-23 17:59:41

I used Dienes at school in the early 1960s. It wasn't Montessori.

silverlining48 Fri 19-May-23 09:08:49

At nearly 75 I can respond instantly( and correctly)! to any times table question, my GC are well impressed. Well I like to think they are. grin
I learned In primary school by the chanting method.

Marydoll Fri 19-May-23 08:59:00

Initially when we purchased the materials they were wooden, but over the years, we could only purchase plastic ones and they were cheaper.

NotSpaghetti Fri 19-May-23 08:54:22

I have just looked Dienes up.
He went to a Montessori school and it's often mentioned in articles about him but I can't find a comparison.

The Dienes blocks for example are just like the Montessori blocks/rods I used as a child (except the Montessori ones are/were wooden). I can't find a direct comparison of the two "systems" but if anyone knows I'd be pleased to have a link!

It looks like he perhaps incorporated the Montessori tools into his thinking and re-named them.

mokryna Thu 18-May-23 19:45:13

is ‘salle de bain’

mokryna Thu 18-May-23 19:43:04

There are table games on the web which my DGS liked doing. However, before devices I used to have revision with my 3 DDs by making and filling in a graph of 144 squares ( yes, I was mean, they had the 11 and 12 tables), something like battleships. It was a game where I would say eg 7x8 and when they replied 56 that square got a cross. It was very slow in the beginning but faster as time went on.
For the problem ones I would sellotape pieces of paper over the flat, 7X8 answer even to this day is be salle de bain.

Marydoll Thu 18-May-23 18:15:38

We used Dienes materials throught my school and we weren't a Montessori school.

They were an excellent aid for teaching division and HTU.

NotSpaghetti Thu 18-May-23 17:59:44

I think Dienes must be the Montessori method?

MerylStreep Thu 18-May-23 17:40:30

annodomini

The GC whose problem started this thread must be a teenager by now!

Nobody’s listening 😂

Chardy Thu 18-May-23 17:30:55

The most fun my pupils ever had doing their tables was when my TA made a set of tables cubes (which took a while) and I guarded them with my life!
www.tarquingroup.com/tables-cubes-make-these-two-sets-of-special-cubes-and-use-them-for-tables-practice.html
Groups of pupils would race against each other, or individual pupils would try and beat their own time. Genius invention.

Chardy Thu 18-May-23 17:25:37

GrannieBabi

Nine times table: Hold fingers up on both hands. 3 x9, put down finger number 3 answer is 2 (fingers to the left of the one that is down) and 7 on the right ...3x9 = 27. 8x9, hold down finger number 8 there are 7 to the left 2 to the right 8 x9 = 72 etc etc. Works for all the numbers in 9 times table up to 10x9.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEIeFV4oMp4

choughdancer Thu 11-May-23 11:16:57

NanaMacGeek

I used to tutor maths to older pupils who needed support. I found many had never mastered their times tables and were completely freaked out when they tried to learn them. They were often provided with charts to use, 0 - 10 along the top and the same down the sides with each box containing the number at the top of the column multiplied by the number at the corresponding row. One thing I found that seemed to help was to show them just how much they already knew. They knew their 2x table, and the 4x table, also most of the 3x. None of them had trouble with the 5x and 10x and the tricks with the 9x table are very effective. We crossed out the answers we knew on the chart which included both 3x9 and 9x3 for example. As these were older pupils, they also knew square numbers, which were also discarded. The 6x 7x and 8x tables caused most problems but they knew all the lower multiples of the numbers and they were all crossed out too. In the end, they were left with about 5 multiplications that they needed to learn. I then tackled those few individually, trying to work out the best way to help them to learn. Basically, once they were happy that 7x8 (8x7) = 56 they felt they had got it! I'm hopeless at arithmetic but am blown away by the beauty of mathematics. I struggled at school, assuming I was hopeless at maths. I'm not, I just didn't respond well to the way I was taught and it knocked my confidence for years. My last job required complex mathematics and it was great.

I struggled at school, assuming I was hopeless at maths. I'm not, I just didn't respond well to the way I was taught and it knocked my confidence for years

This is so true, and a lot of older children and adults go on through life thinking they are hopeless at maths (often hearing non-maths teachers , teaching assistants and parents saying the same thing!).

I tutored primary school maths at one point, and always encouraged rote learning of tables and number bonds. I can still, at the age of 68, produce an instant answer to a times table question; it is just SO useful. One boy I worked with had missed the rote learning because he had moved schools and had a major disadvantage even though he understood maths well. I tried every way to convince him and his mum to chant them and test them while driving along, making meals, doing other routine tasks, without success. I still feel I failed him!

annodomini Thu 11-May-23 09:45:49

The GC whose problem started this thread must be a teenager by now!

JackyB Thu 11-May-23 09:00:02

Sorry, I've just noticed that this thread is ANCIENT!!!!

JackyB Thu 11-May-23 08:52:55

Our DGS could say his times tables with no problem, but he also enjoys being asked random questions from them. He is probably not typical, so I can't really help. I remember being asked random sums at the table when I was little ( also collective nouns, spellings, etc). Our family all love games and quizzes.

If your DGS does not have that sort of mentality, you could include little sums in every day conversation, asking him to work out, e.g. "I'm going to need 4 eggs a day for breakfast every day next week - how many eggs is that?", or "This costs 12p - if I buy three, how much will that be?". It may help if he sees that it is not just abstract numbers, but something relating to real life. Especially with relation to pocket money. Working out sums with money is a good exercise- I remember being good at sums (all that training over the bangers and mash) but my mind went blank if a currency was involved. I noticed this in my oldest when he was at primary school- he is now an engineer and a maths whizz, though.

(As Bluebelle has said, these days they just seem to recite a string of numbers. My DGS does this, too, at his German primary school. If they just say 14,21,28,35,42 how are they going to know that 6 X 7 is 42? All that tells them is that 42 is divisible by 7)

Fleurpepper Thu 11-May-23 08:20:02

Make a template with a sheet of A4 fold in half then half again, both ways- with a ruler mark the lines and scan and copy or photocopy at the PO or ...

in each box, write a table question, like 4 x 9 - and the answer on the back (careful, it will be on opposite side, line them up carefully)- then cut.

prepare an envelope for each of the more difficult times tables and put the in a box and practise them by putting one x table at a table- and looking at each in time and give answer, then turn to check. All incorrect ones are put aside- then tackled again twice.

When all table quite 'solid' - make a big game with mixing some from each envelope...

Keep the template and the box- as it is great to learn foreing words, chemistry symbols, etc, etc.

Topexamhelp Thu 11-May-23 08:11:57

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trisher Sat 02-Dec-17 19:29:38

Exactly. There is no point in learning by rote or using any of the tricks and easy ways that have been posted on this thread,if you don't understand the process. You may get some answers. right but without understanding you will struggle later on.