Multiplication Facts 

The next few weeks, Room 3 will be learning Multiplication and Division. Cementing knowledge in these areas is crucial for a number of reasons:

Multiplication forms the building block for other mathematical concepts:

Once children are confident in the use of their times tables they can begin to apply this knowledge to calculating a variety of sums. As an example, knowing that 2 x 2 = 4 will help children understand that 20 x 20 = 400, and 200 x 200 = 4000. In addition, children can check their calculations using the inverse so that they know that 20 ÷ 4 = 5 is correct because 5 x 4 = 20.

Division and multiplication skills can be applied to real life concepts:

As children handle money, share items between friends and cut food into portions they are beginning to build up their division and multiplication skills as part of their everyday life. Being introduced to these ideas at an early age will mean that as well as gaining confidence in the subject, they will be able to utilise these skills in the wider world.

Practicing multiplication facts doesn’t have to be a chore! There are lots of fun and practical ways to incorporate multiplication facts into your daily lives. Here are a few examples of how you can have fun practicing multiplication at home:

Real-World Opportunities: 

For students to value their learning, it is important for them to see and understand how the skills they are building can be used in daily. Here are a few examples of using multiplication facts in everyday life: 

• We’re buying 6 jars of spaghetti sauce. Each jar costs approximately $4. How much approximately will the 6 jars cost? 

• There are 12 eggs in a carton and we have 4 people in our family. How many cartons of eggs do we need to buy if each person wanted to eat 2 eggs for breakfast everyday this week? 

• There are 8 weeks until we leave for a trip! How can we calculate the number of days using multiplication?

Skip Counting in 2s, 5s, and 10s: 

For multiplications by 5, count by fives until you get the number of groups needed! 

Ex: 6 x 5 = Count: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30!