In short
First shrink the table: 6×7 and 7×6 are the same fact, and the 1, 2, 5 and 10 columns are rules rather than memory. What is left is roughly fifteen genuinely hard facts — 6×7, 7×8, 6×8, 7×7 and a few neighbours. Turn each into a short scene with number images, practise them mixed up rather than in order, and repeat after a day, after three days and after a week. Ten minutes a day, two to three weeks.
Why chanting the tables does not work
The most common method, and the least reliable.
- 1The child remembers the tune, not the factA column learned in order only comes back from the start. Asked "what is seven times eight", they have to scroll the whole row.
- 2You always ask in orderTests ask facts mixed up while practice ran in sequence — those are two different skills.
- 3Taking all of it at onceA hundred squares in a week will not happen. Fifteen hard facts in two weeks will.
Four parent mistakes
They turn two weeks of work into two months.
Asking in order
The child answers with momentum and seems to know it. Mixed up, it turns out they do not.
Taking the whole table at once
Work on three or four hard facts at a time until they are automatic.
Pushing for speed too early
Correct first, fast second. Rushing at the start builds errors you then have to unteach.
Telling them off for mistakes
Under pressure recall shuts down. A mistake means looking at the scene together once more, then moving on.
Four stages
The first two simply cut the work — do not skip them.
- 1Remove half of it6×7 and 7×6 are one fact. Say it out loud and show it on the grid: half the squares disappear at once.
- 2Take away the easy columns1 and 10 are rules, not memory. 2 is doubling. 5 ends in 0 or 5 — half of ten times. For 9, the digits of the answer always add up to nine, and there is the finger trick. A small core is left.
- 3Turn the hard facts into scenes6×7, 7×8, 6×8, 7×7 and neighbours. Each number becomes an image, each fact a short scene with the answer inside it. The child invents it: their own image holds twice as well as a borrowed one.
- 4Practise mixed up, with gapsCards or spoken questions in random order, ten minutes at a time. Repeat today, tomorrow, in three days, in a week.
Ask "what is seven times eight", not "recite the seven column" — that is how school will ask.
When and how much
Rough guide, following the usual school pace.
- 1Age 7–8The 2, 5 and 10 columns as rules. Leave the rest alone for now.
- 2Age 8–9Shrinking the table and the hard core as scenes, ten minutes a day.
- 3Age 9–10 and upSpeed: 30 mixed facts in a minute. Write the result down weekly — the growth is visible.
Check your child's memory in 15 minutes
When tables drag on for months, the problem is often not maths but memory or attention. The free test shows where the difficulty sits. No sign-up, instant result.
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Who wrote this
The same approach we teach in Space Memory classes: numbers become images, facts become scenes, and repetitions are spaced over time.
Questions and answers
How long does it take?
Two to three weeks at ten minutes a day. Faster happens, but holds worse: the spacing is what does the work.
My child counts on fingers — is that bad?
No, it is a normal stage. Fingers drop away by themselves once the hard facts are automatic.
Do we need flashcards?
Handy, not essential. What matters is random order and short sessions.
What about the nine times table?
The digits of the answer always add up to nine: 9×6 = 54, 5+4 = 9. There is also the finger trick, which is enough for many children.
Knows it at night, forgets by morning
Missing repetitions. Add one before bed and one in the morning — the cheapest fix there is.
Does this only work for tables?
No. Formulas, dates and vocabulary are learned the same way: image, scene, mixed-up repetition.
If the tables have dragged on for months
Sometimes the problem is not maths but that the child has no way of memorising at all. Start with the free test — it shows where the difficulty is.