Helping Your Child Master the Times Tables: Four Tips to Success for Your Child

When it comes to the basic elements of mathematics, such as the times tables, the way children grasp and understand these concepts will affect their success in all mathematical studies throughout their school years, and on into later life. It isn’t enough just to leave these concepts to the school to teach. Help at home can greatly increase the speed with which children learn, and the way they retain basic mathematical concepts.In this article we give you four learning elements which you can use to help your child learn his or her times tables. These aren’t difficult concepts. You won’t need to spend thousands on learning materials or make huge investments of your time. Rather, they are simple ideas to use at home in order to aid your child in learning this cornerstone of all mathematical achievement.Tips to help your child master the times tablesWith these elements, as you teach the times tables to your child, you can greatly increase his or her chances of learning success.

The element of home learning: According to the Center for Education’s book, Help Children Learn Mathematics, one important element is taking an integrated approach to teaching your child. Working with children to prepare them for learning mathematics, and staying involved as they go through school, are both important. Technology-based learning: A study undertaken by the University of Houston found that simply adding an element of technology to the learning process aids students in both grasping and retaining material taught. The importance of repetition and testing: Students in China and Japan far exceed students of the same age in other countries in academic performance. A study completed by the California State Polytechnic University identified a number of factors which contributed to this fact. Importantly, Asian students spend more time learning, but they are also encouraged to practice memorisation techniques through repetition and testing of learned material. A visual approach to learning: Finally, a visual approach to teaching can greatly increase a child’s comprehension. This is as simple as adding color to a chart or combining colorful elements with a technology-based learning suite. A study of high school students showed that adding visual elements to mathematics increased comprehension and grades and aided in further learning more complex topics which built on the learned mathematics.

Ensuring that your children do well in school is crucially important. When it comes to mathematics in particular, getting involved in their education right from the start will help them along the way. You now have four ideas to help you lay down a solid foundation for your child when learning the times tables. Getting involved with your child, and using all four elements listed above, will help him or her on the road to success.