Which multiplication facts should children learn first?
A simple order for learning times tables, with the strategies that link each new fact to ones children already know.
Learning 100 multiplication facts as one long list is hard. Learning them in a sensible order, where each new group builds on the last, is much easier. Here is the order many teachers use.
Start with ×2, ×10 and ×5
Children usually know doubles already, so ×2 is a gentle start. ×10 has an easy pattern. ×5 is half of ×10, and children can check by counting in fives on a clock face.
Then ×4 and ×3
×4 is double ×2: if 2 × 7 = 14, then 4 × 7 = 28. ×3 is ×2 plus one more group.
Then ×6, ×8 and ×9
- ×6 is ×5 plus one more group: 6 × 7 = 35 + 7.
- ×8 is double ×4.
- ×9 is ×10 minus one group: 9 × 7 = 70 − 7.
Leave ×7 until last
By the time children reach ×7, they already know almost all of those facts from other tables (7 × 2, 7 × 5, 7 × 9 and so on). Only 7 × 7 is truly new.
How many facts are really left?
Because 3 × 8 is the same as 8 × 3, each fact a child learns covers two. Once ×2, ×5 and ×10 are secure, the list of new facts is much shorter than it first looks.