I met this wonderful pair on the plane last week coming back from Chicago. Richard and Scarlett. I didn't get all the details, but my understanding is they were going to San Diego for Dad's wedding. I believe Dad was Richard, but that was not quite clear in our conversations. Scarlett is nine.
When Richard got up to go to the back of the plane, Scarlett and I commenced to talk. She shared she was going into the fourth grade and needed more work on multiplication tables. Dad had gone to the back and was supposed to return with the multiplication flashcards that were stored somewhere in an overhead bin. He returned without them.
Scarlett was not to be denied her practice. "Well, just give me some and I'll see if I know the answers."
We'd already talked about how easy 6 time 6 is, and that was almost the first question asked. Yea, Scarlett. You got that one. The 2's, 5's and 10's seemed to go easily. Nine's she had a system to use. When 7's or 8's came up the fingers appeared. Those always seem to be the tough ones.
At our house, with four kids needing to learn the multiplication tables in that third/fourth grade range, we sang them, tapped danced them, practiced them at breakfast and dinner, and used them in every possible situation we could. "There are six of us at dinner. How much silverware do we need if everyone has a knife, fork, and spoon?" "What if we invited our friends Katy and Gene over? Then how many do we need?"
We multiplied anything that could be multiplied just for the practice--silverware, beans, nuts and bolts, or puppy dog tails. The content didn't matter. What matter was learning the tables as well as showing how that learning applies to what you do everyday. None of my kids has taken a job as an accountable yet, but they all know how to figure out their checkbooks. So will Scarlett.

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