Parent guide · 5 min read
Times tables practice that actually works: a parent’s guide
Times tables are usually the first maths a family tries to fix with pure repetition: flashcards, a wall chart, a few minutes before bed. That works for some children and stalls completely for others, because it treats every fact as equally hard to remember, when in practice a child is usually stuck on a handful of specific ones. This guide is about finding those first, rather than drilling the whole table from the start again.
Try this tonight
4 things you can do at home
Run the mixed-order check
Ask ten multiplication facts out of order, not in the usual 1×, 2×, 3× sequence: 7×8, 6×9, 4×7, 9×6. Facts a child gets instantly in order but hesitates on out of order are usually recited from a pattern, not actually known.
Write down every hesitation, not just every wrong answer
A pause of more than two or three seconds before a correct answer is as useful a signal as a wrong one. It shows a fact that is being worked out rather than recalled, which is exactly where practice time should go.
Practise the short list, not the whole table
Most children end up with 5 to 10 facts that cause almost all the trouble. Drilling all 144 facts in a times tables app treats those the same as facts your child already knows cold, which wastes time that could go on the ones that matter.
Use a related fact as a stepping stone
For a shaky 7×8, start from 7×4 (which is usually solid) and double it. Building a hard fact from an easy one a child already trusts works better than repeating the hard fact alone.
Why flashcards alone often stall
Flashcards and times tables apps usually cycle through every fact from a table in order, which is efficient for facts a child already half-knows and nearly useless for the handful they genuinely do not. A child ends up spending most of their practice time on facts that were never the problem, while the few that are the actual problem come around only occasionally.
The mixed-order check above exists to separate those two groups quickly, because a child reciting "6, 12, 18, 24…" in sequence is often pattern-matching rather than retrieving a stored fact, and the pattern breaks the moment the question is asked out of order.
The facts that usually cause the trouble
The 1, 2, 5 and 10 times tables are rarely where the difficulty sits — they follow obvious patterns most children pick up quickly. The genuine trouble spots are almost always inside the 6, 7, 8 and 9 tables, especially the facts where two of those numbers multiply each other: 6×7, 6×8, 7×8, 7×9, 8×9. There is no pattern to lean on there, which is exactly why they need to be identified and practised on their own rather than folded back into full-table drilling.
Knowing this in advance saves a lot of wasted practice. A parent who suspects "it’s probably 7s and 8s" and checks that directly, rather than starting again from the 2 times table, gets to the actual gap in a few minutes instead of a few weeks.
A worked example: fixing a shaky 7×8
Start from a fact your child already answers instantly, such as 7×4 = 28. Ask them to double it: 28 doubled is 56, which is exactly 7×8. Doing this two or three times, with the actual doubling written down rather than just said, gives the fact a second route to the answer beyond straight memorisation.
Repeat with a genuinely different anchor for a different fact — 6×7 from 6×5 (30) plus one more 6 (36) — and after a few days of this, test the original mixed-order list again. Facts that now come back in under two seconds have moved from worked-out to known; facts that still need the anchor stay on the practice list a little longer.
Signs it’s time for outside help
When home help has done what it can
- Gets a times table right in order but not when asked out of sequence.
- Counts up on fingers or under their breath for facts their class has already covered.
- The same 3 or 4 facts (often involving 6, 7, 8 or 9) keep coming back wrong.
- Long division or fractions homework is slowed down by stopping to work out a multiplication fact first.
- Times tables practice reliably ends in frustration on both sides.
- A times tables app shows steady progress but the facts do not seem to stick day to day.
Questions parents ask
FAQ
What age should a child know their times tables?
Most schools expect the tables up to 12× to be secure by around ages 9–10 (US Grade 4, UK/AU Year 4–5), building up from the easier tables (2, 5, 10) a year or two earlier. Falling a little behind that is common and fixable with the right practice, not a sign of a bigger problem on its own.
Are times tables apps and games worth using?
Yes, as top-up practice once you know which facts actually need the work. Used on their own, most cycle through every fact evenly, which is exactly the "drill everything" pattern this guide suggests skipping.
How long should times tables practice take each day?
Five focused minutes on a short list of specific facts usually beats twenty unfocused minutes on the whole table. Stop once attention drifts rather than pushing through it.
Is it normal for a child who is otherwise good at maths to still be shaky on times tables?
Yes. Times tables are pure memory work sitting inside a subject that is mostly about reasoning, so a child can understand maths well and still not have every fact instantly to hand. It is worth fixing, but it is not a sign of a wider problem.
Classes that fit
Live, 60 minutes, four learners at most or 1-on-1.
Not sure which is right for your child?
Tell us their age and what they have tried so far, and we will suggest where to start before you book anything.