Customer Reviews

Making Multiplication Easy: Strategies for Mastering the Tables through 10 (Grades 2-4)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Whether you are a homeschooler, or you just want to give your child/student extra help in multiplication, this is a MUST HAVE book that beautifully supplements any math curriculum. The book flows effortlessly from zero to ten times tables in an entertaining step-by-step format. Each section is chock full of games, stories, songs, word problems and puzzles that are fast to do with children, and involve little or no equipment. Examples include a quote by Shakespeare's King Lear "Nothing will come of nothing" (for learning anything multiplied by zero is zero); Using fairy tales to learn how to multiply by one ("Once a upon a time there were three bears", "Once upon a time there were seven dwarfs"); the cute, memorable folktale of Mr. & Mrs. Yam, a couple who made a fascinating discovery in their back yard, for learning to multiply by 2; Using a calendar and the concept of eating three meals a day to teach the three times table, and a host of other practical, enlightening suggestions.

The latter part of the book contains reproducibles and teaching aids for use in the home school and classroom -- guaranteed to keep your student(s) busy for hours! When I used this book with my 8-year-old daughter, I don't think she realized how much she was learning. We ended up putting her regular textbook on the shelf for a few days while she had fun working from this book. When she was finished, I just used the speed drills and tests from her regular curriculum to test her comprehension and retention. I found she consistently scored in the high 90's - 100 on every test. Every family is different, but it took us a solid two weeks (working 5-6 days a week for 35-40 minutes per day) for her to have the zero-ten times tables memorized cold.

This book is so effective because it is easy for the teacher/parent to use, and is a fun way for kids to learn this sometimes confusing concept. Even older students will appreciate the hints, songs, games and poems partly because they are great strategies, but mostly because they are really fun!

Definitely the most entertaining and useful of all the supplementary materials I have reviewed for multiplication (and believe me, I have looked at many!!!). I would also recommend the Multiplication Songs Kit from Audio Memory, Inc. as another source to use in conjunction with this book and your regular curriculum.

5 Starts. Enjoy!

My daughter needed some different approaches to understanding multiplication. This book provides engaging exercises using language that is relevant to children. It provides truly multi-sensory opportunities to learn multiplication - stories, games, songs, and suggestions for using manipulatives. I highly recommend it, whether your child is struggling with multiplication or not.

I have used this book in my class for years and it has many great uses. I especially love a chart in it that breaks down the memorization of the facts into easy chunks. A great resource to have!

This book has many good ideas for helping children with multiplication--including songs, stories, and other pneumonic devices.

I am pleased with many of the ideas in the book and will definitely use a lot of things in our homeschool, but this book does teach finger multiplication which we are trying to avoid. There is enough other useful things in the book that I am keeping it.

Great helper for parents with children just getting into multiplication. Gave good hints on how to teach and some shortcuts that make it easier to learn. My daughter was even reading this on her own.