Taken from: http://www.mathsolutions.com/index.cfm?

page=wp10&crid=137&contentid=394
on 18 February 2010

Q&A:
Multiplication &
Division Facts
Marilyn Burns answered the following question from
a parent of a fourth grader.
Q. Marilyn Burns received a letter from the parent
of a fourth grader concerned about her daughter,
who was struggling to learn her multiplication and
division tables. The child was given timed tests at
school and didnt do very well. Her mother was
wondering what she could do to help improve her
daughters skill. Heres Marilyns response:
A. Your daughters problem isnt uncommon, and Ive
found that getting help at home is a wonderful way to
help children shift from being discouraged to
developing confidence and experiencing success.
Following are some ideas I hope will be useful.
First, its important your daughter sees the usefulness
of memorizing the multiplication and division tables.
Without having these committed to memory, all
calculations, whether done mentally or with paper and
pencil, will be difficult and laborious. If you think that
your daughter would benefit from some
encouragement to think about reasons for learning the
tables, you might check in the library for a book titled
Amanda Beans Amazing Dream, by Cindy
Neuschwander (Scholastic, 1998). The book was
written by a third-grade teacher who wanted to
motivate her students to think about multiplication. At
the end of the book, Ive included activities for
parents to do with their children. While the book and
activities focus on multiplication, they also provide a
good foundation for thinking about division.
Two other books that also would be helpful are One
Hundred Hungry Ants (Houghton Mifflin, 1999) and
A Remainder of One (Houghton Mifflin, 1995), both
by Elinor J. Pinczes. These dont provide specific

activities for you to do with your daughter, but they

can spark discussion about both multiplication and
division.
I like using these books with children. They help
make abstract math ideas real and help stimulate
childrens imaginations. I know that they wont in
themselves solve your daughters problem, but theyre
a good starting place.
When helping your daughter, its important to keep in
mind that not only should students understand why
memorizing basics is important but a focus on
memorization should follow understanding concepts
of multiplication and division. Children should first
learn how multiplication relates to repeated addition,
how to interpret division, and how multiplication and
division relate to each other. When I work with
students, I check first that a child can figure out the
answers to single-digit problems, such as 7 x 8 or 24
3, before they focus on memorizing answers. I want
to be sure that a child knows that 7 x 8 can be
interpreted as seven 8s, or 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8,
and that thinking about the problem as adding eight 7s
or 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 +7 will produce the
same answer. For division problems like 24 3, a
child should understand that the answer can be found
by putting 24 into groups of three, by sharing 24 into
three groups, or by relating the problem to
multiplication and thinking three times what number
gives twenty-four? The goal for your daughter is
clearquick and effortless recall of products and
quotients with factors from one to 12. But the
memorization should follow learning the concepts.
After checking that your daughter has developed
understanding of the concepts, you might look
together at the multiplication table. Look for patterns
in the rows and columns of numbers. Notice which
products appear only once, exactly twice, or more
than twice. Find the product that appears most often
and talk about why this is so. Think about numbers
that arent productslike 17 and 31, for example
and talk about why these dont appear. Find out if
there are more even or odd products and, again,

discuss why.
Use a calculator to help familiarize your child with
multiples. Most calculators have the capability to do
repeated additions. Try it with a calculator you have at
home. Press 8, then +, then =, and the display
should show 8. Press the = key again, and you
should see 16 on the display. Keep pressing the =
key and the display will continue to show multiples of
824, 32, 40, 48, and so on. Have your daughter
predict what number will show next before she
presses the = key each time. Doing this will
familiarize your daughter with the multiples of eight.
Start with other numbers to practice other multiples.
Brainstorm with your daughter all of the possible
ways she might memorize the table. Have her choose
one way to try with just one set of numbers, say the
eights. When shes ready, quiz her. Together decide if
the method she used to study helped or if shed like to
switch to a different method for another number.
Good luckto you and your daughter!
Marilyn Burns