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What is the best way you have found to help your kids memorize their multiplication facts? Skip Counting? Skip Counting Songs? Multiplication Songs? Flash Cards? Memorizing Times Tables by rote?

If you've used songs with success, please share what you used. Thanks!

Oh, oh! I can tell you what we were doing last week. We were learning "counting by fours" but chanting them in funny voices into a fan. It sounded halarious! I video'd my son doing this and then he wanted to watch the video several times so he heard himself counting by 4's over and over. It was very successful. He totally learned it that day. And he walks around counting by 4's now just for fun because it made such a happy effect on his brain. Heh.

And I will hold up my fingers as he is skip counting so he can see 4 times what (how many fingers I have up) equals what he is saying (oh, that didn't make sense, did it?)

Great idea. I like the idea of skip counting because it will also be useful in division.

My kids memorized their facts by starting with skip counting that just morphed into them remembering it.

I don't know if you have heard of the Waldorf way of memorizing your facts or not but there are some you tube videos on it. I had never of it a friend showed me the link. It is very visual. The video was interesting but it is also similar to skip counting. It just provides a way for a child to skip count more easily IMHO.

I also know of a friend who's kids are very good at memorizing stuff if it is in a story form. They had the book Times Tales. It is a book that tells a story and it has many multiplication facts in it. Her kids memorized the story and that helped them memorize the fact. I personally am not that type of learner at all and I found the book very confusion. It literally has nothing at all to do with why the fact is the fact. It is just a story and incorporates different characters in the story that live places that answer the fact. Weird to me but perfect for her child.

I don't do a lot of flash cards but many moms I know will keep cards in the car and they do them when they are driving. I remember when I was younger that is what my mom did with me and my bro (I have a twin brother). We would complete in the back seat on the way to places. Math was the only subject in school that I was better than him at so it was a very memorable experience for me .

I will third the recommendation for skip counting. For very active kids, doing it while jumping on a trampoline or swinging works well. Maybe bouncing a ball? Skip counting can easily morph into times tables. Rather than 4, 8, 12, 16.... then you go 4X1 is 4, 4X2 is 8, 4X3 is 12....

We use www.xtramath.com .

Have you heard of Skip Count Kids? My kids love those songs and they've got a CD called The Bible Heroes. My kids learned to skip count by threes by singing the Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego song. It's so catchy!

They do also have a regular (non-Bible) CD also. I found I liked some from each so downloaded some individually on iTunes depending on which I liked better.

For my middle dd, skip counting worked great. My youngest is struggling with remembering the order of doing that. Just memorizing rote facts is not her strong suit either. She stares at the charts. I explain how to work on memorizing them, and she claims she doesn't know what to do. She is my wiggle worm.

We added in card games this year. My youngest loves playing 7 ate 9. We found a multiplication game she likes. The name escapes me. I just bought Multiplication Wars and Division Wars from Barnes and Noble. She works slow, but loves playing these card games. I hope skip counting sinks in soon for her. It seems so much easier than what she is currently wanting to do.

I will have to try the fan and funny voices. That is right up her alley!