Anyone who has read my blog from the beginning knows, my eldest is not the biggest maths fan that ever lived! If she had it her way, she would never look at another number again!
Unfortunately, we can not survive without maths in the big wide world, therefore I have to embrace the maths phobia battle with my little darling, because quite frankly, it just has to be done!The difference between knowing your times tables and not knowing them, is like eating fish with or without bones! .....I am sure this puzzles you...
Imagine you have a nice big fish served up ready to eat. If you know your multiplication facts, doing maths is like eating this fish with all the bones pre-removed. You just dig right in and enjoy your meal without much effort.
If however, you have not quite mastered your times tables, then your fish has all its bones intact, and in order to eat it, you must dig and spit out the bones along the way. You still get to eat the fish....but you have to put in some extra work as you go!
When it comes to working out any multiplication sums, we can see this strange fishy principle. If we know all our facts we can jump right in and fill in all the answers. If we don't, then we are going to have to count on fingers, draw lines, or do whatever it is we do to work out 6x8.....it requires greater effort!
We have been working on the Gammar book from Math U See, and reached the point where long multiplication is introduced. Really loooong multiplication!
This has resulted in some undesirable behaviour shall we say, as my dear eldest will do anything to now avoid looking at this book, because there is too much working out to do; which of course is time consuming since she hadn't yet begun memorising the facts.
Fun Tree books contacted me at just the right time we had embarked on getting our multiplication facts memorised, offering to send me these Times tables multiplication cards in exchange for an honest review....perfect!
I decided to take a little break from text book maths to allow time to learn these important sums, which although I insist she master, I have to admit; I remember my Dad ordering us to memorise times tables as a "punishment" when we were naughty as kids, but I don't think I ever did, because I know I don't know them today ....I still have to skip count to get the answer! (shhhh don't tell my kids!).
Okay, so what's included? Fun Tree Books have thought of everything when designing this maths aid. Inside the compartmented box I found the number fact cards, 2 dry erase pens and 2 Times table posters you can unfold and stick up on the wall.
On the front side of each number set, are its multiplication tables laid out, with the back showing the same however the answers blank. This is where we have fun with the cute little dry erase pens that are included in the pack to write the answers! -I've said it before; tell me which child doesn't like writing with dry erase pens!
It doesn't take my 9 year old long to use the cards to commit each set to memory Alhamdulillah. To be honest, only about 10 minutes Alhamdulillah. ....while memorising is easy, its the constant review that needs the work to ensure its not forgotten bi'ithnillah!
We certainly have found these to be most helpful Alhamdulillah. Its small and compact size makes it easy to take anywhere.
We've taken the set out with us, tossing it into a bag when I attended a class so she could pull it out and go over them whilst she waited patiently for me to finish!
The set can be ordered through Amazon, however if you take yourself over to Fun Tree Books website first, you can pick up a discount code before purchasing!
Thank you to Fun Tree books for this opportunity...and making my day a little easier!
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