This is true for children, and for adults.
Despite what you may have heard, calculators, computers, and tablets have not killed off the need to know the times tables off by heart. Here are five reasons why:
1. Knowing the times tables from memory is simply quicker.
Calculators are fast, but if you already know the answer, you don’t even have to pick it up. Multiply the time saving by the number of times you need a simple answer, and the benefit is massive.
2. You can see how ideas connect together.
Unlike someone who needs to “look up” a question like “6 x 3 = 18”, a student who knows this can, for example, figure out the angles in an equilateral triangle, because they also know that “60 x 3 = 180”.
3. It gives you confidence.
As a classroom teacher, I have seen far too many children who don’t know even simple tables, who believe they are “dumb at math” and are getting ready to quit some time soon. The child who knows the tables has achieved something they know is pretty impressive, and that gives them confidence to learn later, harder math.
4. You will be more likely to succeed at high school and college math later.
Advanced math really does build in direct ways on the foundations set in primary and elementary math. And even though calculators are used for most advanced math, knowing the basics already frees your brain to learn the more difficult stuff.
5. Everything becomes faster, more efficient, and easier if you know the basics.
In any field, if you have to continually keep looking up answers to basic information (in math, that’s times tables), it will rob you of time you could have spent in thinking, researching, writing, studying, and simply becoming a better student.
Learning the times tables off by heart is a significant challenge for most kids. It is important to find ways to help your child to meet this challenge and succeed in school math.