Stories about The Times Table

I’m on a rant again about the Times Table to emphasize how important it is in your math studies. And in everyday life!

A few of recent events inspired this post —

I was buying beautiful fabric recently to make a Christmas present for a dear friend. I asked the young woman who was assisting me how wide the fabric was. She measured 27 inches for half the width, then took out her smart phone to figure out the full width = (27 inches X 2). I was shocked. My jaw actually dropped.

In a recent exchange, three of us had to share 25 minutes and split the time in three equal segments. My dear friend, an intelligent bookkeeper with a BComm, took out her smart phone to figure out how much time each of us had = (25 minutes / 3). Again I was shocked.

I asked a close friend of mine if she knows The Times Table. She said “No”, and then told me: “I’m very fast at using my fingers-and-toes to figure out the answer to simple arithmetic questions”.

I was at the movies recently, standing in line to buy the necessary popcorn. The fellow in front of me paid for his snacks using facial recognition to access his iPhone and paid with ApplePay. I was curious and told him I was impressed! He said “I use my phone for everything!”. I asked him if he knew his Times Table. Both he and his friend laughed. “No!” was the answer.

I ask my students NOT to depend upon their calculator. I want them to comprehend each step in solving a problem or performing a calculation. THEN they can use their calculator! A grade 10 tutoring student pleaded with me to use her calculator. When I watched her use trail-and-error to find the answer, I quietly performed the calculation on paper, arriving at the correct answer much faster than she did using her calculator.

Many of us have become dependent on calculators or our fingers-and-toes to make simple calculations.

Our brain is much faster!

One of my best friends since high school became a teacher, then a principal. She went back to the classroom to teach Grade 3. When she told me how she was teaching the times tables, I shuddered.

My dear friend, the teacher, was not using rigour to teach math.

I thought: “No wonder! That’s why young students become overwhelmed and never learn The Times Table”.

My intent is to inspire you to learn The Times Table. It’s not as difficult as it might appear.

The Associative Law simplifies multiplication enormously because —

N X M = M X N so 3 X 4 = 4 X 3

We know —

N X 10 = N0 so 8 X 10 = 80

N X 1 = N so 7 X 1 = 7

N X 0 = 0 so 12 X 0 = 0

These simple truths reduce the amount of learning the times table by more than 50%!

Why is the times table so important?

speed and accuracy when solving math problems

an important life-long skill that keeps the brain active and heathy

My hope is that this blog post will inspire you to learn your Times Table. It’s important to you. Good luck!