The multiplication tables should be memorized in order of difficulty.
The twos and tens come most easily to most children, followed by the fives. Next should come the threes, then fours, then elevens, then sixes. The most difficult times tables for most children to memorize are the sevens, eights, nines, and twelves, so these should come last.
Using Cuisenaire Rods
Cuisenaire rods are very helpful when children are memorizing their times tables.
Start with the twos
The children should lay out a set of 2 cm rods in “stairs”, showing 1 x 2, 2 x 2, 3 x 2 all the way up to 12 x 2. If you are working individually with a child, point to the stairs in order and have the child say the corresponding problem: “One times two is two, two times two is four,” and so on. Then point to the stairs in random order and have the child state the problem. “Five times two is ten, two times two is four,” etc.
The children should then answer the set of questions on paper: 1 x 2, 2 x 2 up to 12 x 2. If they are unsure of an answer, they should look at their staircase and figure it out.
The next stage is to answer the 2 times table questions on paper in random order (again with the staircase handy). This should be practiced until the answers come automatically. For some children this might take a very small amount of time and practice. For other children, it will take much longer.
Next come the tens
If children haves lots of room, the orange tens can be made into a very steep staircase and learned in the same manner as the twos. If the children are working at desks, the tens can be grouped like this and memorized:
Fives
The fives can be done in a similar way. Have the children make models of the problems, then state the problems out loud, and then answer questions on paper.
Making arrays
Have the children create pairs of arrays which show both the problem and the commuted version so they can see why these have the same answer.
2 x 10 10 x 2
Point to pairs of arrays and have the children state the problems such as, “Two times ten is twenty. Ten times two is twenty.“
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The “clock” method
Another way to work on times table memorization is for the person who knows the times table (a peer, teacher, classroom aide, sibling, tutor, etc) to draw a big circle on a piece of paper and evenly space the numbers 1 through 12 around the circumference like a clock face. If the threes are being worked on, a 3 should be drawn in the centre of the clock. The person helping the child with the memorization should touch first the 3 in the centre and then a number on the rim and ask the child to state the math fact. Initially, the numbers on the rim can be touched in ascending order, and then randomly. If a child does not know an answer, the helper can state the fact (“Three times seven is twenty-one”) and have the child repeat it, and then circle back to that one after doing a few that the child does know.
Cards
A deck of times table cards can also be used, with the helper holding up random cards for the child. Be sure the whole fact is stated (either by the child or by the helper if the child does not know it) so an auditory memory is created, rather than your silently holding up the card and having the child simply say, “Forty” or whatever the answer is.
Online multiplication trainer
If there are no helpers (or not enough helpers) available to assist children with memorization, an online “multiplication trainer” can be extremely useful. Here is an example: https://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/math-trainer-multiply-old.html
An online trainer which rapidly feeds the child questions and lets the child know if the answer is correct (and supplies the correct answer if it was wrong) is far more efficient than a tedious computer game in which multiplication questions are scattered few and far between. A multiplication trainer is also an excellent adjunct to the interactive and hands-on memorization methods I described.
