I will admit I did not read all the responses. I think writing the problems is a fine idea but keep in mind that is for memorization only. That will not teach anything. I am sure you realize that. lol. Make sure you teach the concept first. Don't stress out on the memorization at first. Concept, concept, concept. Then mix things up with flash cards and writing them out. 10-20 times...ah...I think maybe 10 times should be enough. After a bit do a timed test and see where you stand. In fact, you can do a timed test...no stress...after the concept is learned just to see. Maybe it is just me or my kids but they love seeing how much they progressed...it is very motivating. Oh...and with my dd, all the memorization tricks were meaningless. lol. She actually got faster just focusing on the concept...weird, huh? LOL.
I've got the opposite problem - an 11 year old dd who understands the concept (ie, 7X8 is 7 groups of 8 or 8 groups of 7, it's repeated addition, etc) but can't get them memorized. It slows her down in all her math because anytime she runs into a X that she doesn't know, she has to work it out by adding in her head or drawing it on paper or such. I wish I could find a way to cement them in her mind....we've tried writing them out, oral reciting, music, etc, but nothing sticks.... sometimes, she seems to have them - like, she'll recite the four times table and get them all right, but only IN ORDER... mix them up and I get a blank look.... *pulls out hair*
Ava dd is the same way- totally gets the concepts, but memorizing is another story. Today she had fun- she is loving math gain so long as it's not subtraction LOL. but it gave the problem 2x6 and then said draw the problem so she had to draw 2 groups of 6. Then the next page it showed the groups, then the number added underneath and she had to match it up with the correct multiplication problem. Then something popped into my head while we were doing that. She has a blank 100's chart. So for the problems I had her skip count- so for 4x5, she's start at 5, then skip count till she got to the correct answer. She had a lot of fun with that too. Tomorrow I"m going to have her use a marker and do the same thing, but have her put the marker on the correct answer for the problems.
I say do the Scholastic Rock thing that has helped with a lot of them with my kids, then just plain repeating them outloud as they figure an equation helps too.. 7x1=1, 7x2=2 so what is 7x3?
Funny, how different kids work. Some can memorize easily and other get the concept easily. lol. My dd is finally getting better at memorizing but she isn't the fastest. Oh well...at least she knows what she is doing. lol. It does frustrate her to be a bit slow while doing lots of math though. She is improving but mostly thorugh working with the numbers and not conventional means of memorizing. I think she finds those ways so boring she tunes out. lol.
It sounds like she may be adding in her head; I was the same way. Have you worked with rhymes? That is something that helped me, when just memorizing numbers didn't stick in my head. Try things like: Dropped 8 times 8 on the floor, picked it up and it was 64! Don't be sad, don't be blue, 6 times 7 is 42! Just for fun, just for kicks, 7 times 8 is 56! I used to know one for all of the 6s, 7s, and 8s, but only remember a few now. :lol: (I do know the facts now though!!) The ones for 7x7 and 8x6 were cute, but I'm having a hard time remembering them! LOL You could always make up your own, though....
