Without Knowing Their Math Facts
Your Child Will Always Struggle with Mathematics
Why does my child have to learn Math Facts?
Math Facts are essential to your childs success with mathematics. No matter what their style of learning– no matter what your style of teaching, the goal for every student is the same.
They must end up knowing their facts, and more importantly, understanding them!
If they don’t know them, the result for every student is the same – math problems!
Do you know what we mean when we refer to Math Facts?
How do you know if your child knows them or not?
How can you help them to improve their knowledge?
Is your child using tricks to get the right answers?
All the Free Printable Math Fact sheets you require for K-6 Mathematics are available by subject area. As there is one download per subject area please note that a 3rd Grade student will not know all these facts. A 6th grader should know them all, and a Kindergartner will only know a small portion. Familiarize yourself with your childs Grade Level Expectations.
You can download all the facts you need by these subject areas.
• Numbers & Operations
• Measurement
• Algebra
• Geometry
Three main areas of Geometry:
Circle
Polygons
Polyhedrons
• Data and Probability
So how do you find out if they know and understand their facts?
Unfortunately the only way to test your childs knowledge; is to give them a Math Test.
What exactly are math facts?
You may know these by a different name. If you were schooled like I was – the old fashioned rote learning style – you may know them as your ‘tables’. This is because of the way they are presented - in table format. Table format is desirable because it is fast and efficient.
It is undesirable as students see the ‘pattern’ too quickly, and also depend on the pattern and the ‘previous’ number for their answer!
Do you remember your tables?
1 + 1 = 2; 1 + 2 = 3; 1 + 3 = 4
Of course there are addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. These are the basics.
As you can see from this website, there are five subject areas studied in Elementary Mathematics. All areas of math have their math facts!
• Numbers & Operations
• Measurement
• Algebra
• Geometry
The three areas of Geometry are:
Circle
Polygons
Polyhedrons
Data and Probability
Do you remember the area of a Triangle? Half the base by the perpendicular height? Well this is considered a geometry fact.
What about Algebra Facts? What is an equation? A mathematical sentence created by two expressions separated by an equals sign!
Why are math facts so important when they can use a calculator?
This is a good question as far as the basic math facts (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division) are concerned. It really has no relevance to say - geometry!
There are many issues as far as calculators go. Most of them are with regards to the calculators themselves or missed errors in the input of data!
My personal opinion is that calculators should not be used before Middle School. But this is not a sentiment shared by the National Curriculum. If there is a lack of understanding of the basics, it is too easy to accept an incorrect answer given by a calculator, because of the assumption 'the calculator has to be right'.
For example: If the following sequence of numbers and operations 2 x 3 + 6 are inputted into a calculator, some can give the result as 18. This of course is the incorrect answer. The correct answer is 12. Don’t know why? Check out our Numbers & Operations Math Fact Sheet! Your child should be capable of doing a problem like this as mental math, and not have to rely on a calculator.
Is old fashioned ‘rote learning’ (memorization) the only way to learn Math Facts?
No. And it is not necessarily the most desirable way either. As a method, I would not venture to say it is wrong, but there is a weakness. You may have this weakness your self!
How many months of the year have 30 days in them?
Did you have to recite the old verse – 30 days in September, April, June and November!
If you did – you learned through rote learning.
When you ask your child what is 5 x 6 you want the answer 30, not 5 1’s 5, 5 2’s 10 …
Learning through the rote learning method sucks out all the JOY! And math should be fun and enjoyable. The more Joy there is, the more willingness will be offered by the student to learn more!
The fact sheets here should be used as a reference source, for your student, or you to check their work. Teaching should never be – here’s a sheet, keep saying the numbers over and over until you get it – then I’ll test you. Talk about boredom!
Head over to our Parent Center. This is full of hints & tips on how to approach teaching your child. Don’t be afraid of using manipulatives or Games & Puzzles to assist your teaching efforts.
You can find specific Printable Math Worksheets for your child to practice their new found knowledge. These are available in our Math Worksheets Area.
My child is getting the right answer by using ‘tricks’ – is this okay?
Children are very smart. When there is a pattern, or an easier way of doing something – they will find it. Ultimately we all use tricks.
When we multiply by 10, we simply add a 0 to the end of a number. When we multiply a single digit by 11, the answer is the digit written twice. For example 4 x 11 = 44; 7 x 11 = 77.
Tricks, I think are fine, as long as your child also knows how to answer the question without tricks. Do they fully understand what they are doing, or are they just getting the right answer?
Give them a few questions that don’t have ‘obvious’ tricks and see how they get on. If they are still having problems, consider testing the level of their knowledge using a math test.
You should feel good in some ways. If your child is in the earlier grades, and can see these number patterns - they are likely to be good at algebra and geometry - the horror sectons for some students!
A Tip for your Math Fact Sheets
Once you have printed off the sheets that you want or need, consider laminating them, using shrink wrap, or putting them in a clear plastic folder.(If you chose to laminate - put two sheets back to back!)
Put them in a folder that you can dedicate to Math Fact use only. Or if you chose to laminate them, punch one hole through the top left corner, and connect them all with a key ring!
These will be used quite a bit by you and your student, and will get earmarked very quickly!
Math facts are an essential foundation to math. Each new year in school will start building new math facts upon the old ones with an assumption that they are indeed known and understood.
When your child enters Middle School in 7th Grade, the last thing you want to cope with is catch up! They will have a lot of changes to cope with at this stage of their education. Math Facts, will only help them with math. But it will also be one less thing to worry about!
And you never know, it might actually gain them a few new friends along the way!
Don't miss this oportunity to subscribe to my e-zine
Elementary Math Fun
This is a bi-monthly publication which will give you suggestions on how to make math entertaining and fun for your child!
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