Does Rote Learning Work?
While this rote learning strategy works for some students, in the past decade or so research indicates that this is not the most effective way to teach multiplication. One research study referred to these different ways of learning math as practically-based explanations and mathematically-based explanations (Levenson, 2009). Practically-based explanations are the ways students find to relate mathematical concepts to their real-life experience. A number of these explanations are practical strategies that can also be formally taught.
Practical Multiplication Strategies
Once your child has learned these practical multiplication strategies, he has ways to find the answers to nearly half of the multiplication tables. There are some other strategies or tricks which, while a bit more complicated, he can use to work out the rest of the tables.
