When you think about all of the concepts you learn from elementary school all the way through middle and even a lot of high school, you're never really learning anything completely "new".
Decimals? They're just fractions. Fractions? They're division. Even the division symbol itself is just a fraction with dots instead of numbers. Everything is something else with a different name. And all of them can be easy. But only if you MEMORIZE THE MULTIPLICATION & DIVISION FACTS!
Seriously, they're everywhere. Say you have to find the lowest common multiple between 4 and 7. You can skip count by each one until you see the answer, but if you have the facts memorized, 28 immediately pops out at you and you don't have to do any of the work.
Greatest common factor, lowest common multiple, multi-digit multiplication, division, and even algebra...they're all 100% about knowing those facts.
Bad news first: You can try songs, pictures, etc. but the only sure fire way for your child to memorize the facts is rote memorization. Good news: It doesn't have to be stressful. They won't be in a classroom racing other students to finish a page of math facts before the timer runs out. They'll be safe at home, doing this at a steady but manageable pace. The trick is to set attainable goals. Follow these steps, and you'll magically notice your child's mathematical life getting easier:
Pick any three facts. For instance, try 6x4, 7x6, & 6x8. All of these are in the 6 family, and the middle one is just reversed. And 6x4 is half of 6x8. And 6x8 is double 6x4. And 6x7 is also in the 7 family. Just like 6x4 and 6x8 are also in the 4 and 8 families. So even though they're only practicing 3 facts, they're actually memorizing 6 of them.
Just write out a simple drill on a whole page with only these three problems in random order. Time your child as they say the answers out loud. It will take forever at first, but they'll get quicker every time.
Add another fact when they're ready.
Repeat the whole process.
Do this for 20 minutes every day.
The mind works in weird ways. Remember the memory card game? You see the pineapple and think "I just saw that...oh yeah, it's here!" Well, aren't numbers just squiggles and shapes? You see a 6 or a 4 and immediately know their names, right? Now you're just letting your brain take the next step of seeing the actual physical shape of 6 + 4 and saying its new name: 24.
When you see a stop sign, you don't have to sound out the word or count the sides. You just see it and your brain says STOP. The same mechanism is at play here. When your eye sees a basic math problem, you're training your brain to recognize the shape of it and immediately know the answer.
Remember:
Stay consistent but stress-free.
Set daily alarms with a goal in mind of memorizing an ambitious yet reasonable number of facts week by week.
I love helping people with this, so let's talk!
Email me any time at jason@tutoringmindset.com
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