I was tutoring a high school sophomore in algebra 2, and was shocked that she didn't know her multiplication tables! She kept using her fingers and adding up the numbers... or reaching for the calculator.
Is this a common thing these days? Do kids not know their multiplication tables?
ETA: Do you know your multiplication tables? Do you know your 12s, 13s, and 14s? Or to put it another way: do you know what 12 x 13 and 14 x 7 are?
squash / 13199 posts
I know mine and had to learn it very early. I visited africa a few times and the kids there know all their tables at a very early age!
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
Yes, they were drilled into my brain in elementary school and I can still say them very quickly.
GOLD / squash / 13464 posts
I know them but only up to 11. Starting with kids about my age (I'm 27) there has been a lot less focus in schools on memorizing things like multiplication tables. I had a lot of teachers especially in high school who felt like it wasn't a good use of time to memorize things like that when you have a calculator at your use at all times. There is much more of a focus on learning about critical thinking.
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
I know up to my 12s...Anything after that, I have to do mental math.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
Yep! 
And I recently was put to the test when I was tutoring my cousin who's in 4th grade!
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I'm with @Rubies:. However, I feel like more and more kids now days rely on the calculator for everything. Even for simple math (addition or subtraction). Sad.
admin / wonderful grape / 20724 posts
@MamaMoose: I believe that the hard working and drilling of rote memorization is the real lesson of the multiplication tables.
eggplant / 11824 posts
No, not anymore and it hasn't been a problem yet 
I am already dreading helping LO with her math homework though!
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
I know them up until 12. I think there is a basic foundation that everyone should learn. It is silly to use a calculator for everything. Even a piece of paper and pen would be better. Use your brain power. Use it or lose it.
pomelo / 5321 posts
I know them up to 12 too.
It blows my mind to see how many kids don't know them. My brother is a Junior in High School and he has to think about it far to long for a lot of them. His friends are the same way. It drives me crazy! It's basic math!
GOLD / pineapple / 12662 posts
I know them up to 12, but the only reason I do is because my dad taught them to my brother and I.
kiwi / 537 posts
Through 12, I remember the 6s and 7s being really tricky for me. Basic math it should be taught and kids should be expected to know it.
pear / 1764 posts
Yes I know them for the most part & we learned them in early elementary school.
persimmon / 1341 posts
I still know them but I think that's largely because I'm a teacher. Our state tests multiplication pretty hard in 4th grade so multiplication is taught starting in 3rd. It's different than when I was a kid though because we just straight up had to learn them and we took timed tests every Friday. If you didn't get a certain percent on the test you had to miss recess and practice until you could get the needed score. Now, the trend is to teach them "tricks" to learn them or tools to use to find the answer and we don't focus so much on making sure they actually memorize them. It's not a method I'm particularly fond of because I think some things just need to be memorized.
That being said, there are some pretty cool tricks for remembering them. Especially the 9's.
ETA: We only teach "tricks" up to 12's. After that we teach them to solve it with paper/pencil or a chart.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
I only know up to 10. Hopefully lo will be smarter than me.
cantaloupe / 6791 posts
Yep, even though I teach preschool/kindergarten, I'm licensed K-6. I took a few "Math for Elementary Teachers" classes in college. I even re-learned how to do long division.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
I still remember them. I loved doing multiplication tables. We had multiplication bees like spelling bees in my school.
pomegranate / 3980 posts
I am terrible at multiplication because I skipped the 3rd grade when it was being taught and went into the 4th where I was expected to just know it and I caught really fast and I can do them but I am super slow and only know up to 12.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
Yeah, I know them up to the 12s. I learned them when I was in 3rd grade, I think.
kiwi / 545 posts
I know the easy ones (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11) off the top of my head. 6 and 12 I know the first few now because of inventory counts at work. 7, 8 and 9 still baffle me.
pomelo / 5073 posts
It's ridiculous how many kids don't know their times tables now. It's just not 'pushed' in school in the way that it was when we were younger. Kids complain, parents complain. It's frustrating. I grew up in a house that made me recite them before we ate dinner. THey weren't cruel with it, but we know our times tables up to 12 easy.
nectarine / 2458 posts
I know up to 12, we were never required to learn beyond that off the top of our heads.
admin / wonderful grape / 20724 posts
@Jennimac: I 100% put it on parents! It's so easy to teach your kids their tables. My mom made flashcards and we learned our tables before they were taught in school.
pomegranate / 3398 posts
I know them up through 12.
My 2nd grader is currently doing multiplication and kicking it's A$$ and I'm super proud lol
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
Not really.. my parents were good about teaching them to us, but I didn't care about learning them. I know most of them, but for the most part I mentally do the math in my head. I don't have them memorized. But I don't think it's a bad thing that they're not memorized because I CAN do the actual math and that's the important thing.
eggplant / 11287 posts
@mrbee: I know them up through 12 (memorized). I could do the higher numbers, it would just take me a sec to do the math in my head!
pomegranate / 3503 posts
I only know up to 12 as well. That was the one thing I remember my mom teaching me. She taught it in chinese and I had to recite it to her every day.
persimmon / 1341 posts
@His Barista: 9's are easy. Make 2 columns. On the left side number in ascending order from 0-9. On the right side number in descending order from 9-0. Your first row should have 0 on the left and 9 on the right. That's 9x1. Go to the second row, 9x2 is 18 so you should have a 1 on the left and an 8 on the right. Also, when multiplying by 9's your answer should always add up to 9. If it doesn't, it's wrong. Example: 9x3= 27..2+7=9.
grapefruit / 4800 posts
I pretty much know them but I still use my fingers a lot, especially for the 9's. I use math a lot so it's probably kind of bad when people see me using my fingers. It's almost more habit than anything.
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