We are steadily working on addition facts and getting there with the help of a range of apps. So, now I’m looking ahead and wanting to start gathering materials and planning for teaching multiplication facts. What has everyone used successfully (or not)? I’d love to hear a range of different resources that suit different kids!
Thank you 
I absolutely loved doing the more RB pictures and stories from www.multiplication.com.
Alex was just about to turn 3, so we read the story associated with the fact and she ‘took a picture of the card with her mental camera.’ She learned them in about a month to suprise Daddy for Xmas last year.
Too cute. Each number is assigned a different personality first: 2-shoe, 3-tree, 4-floor, 5-hive, 6-sticks, 7-surfin’, 8-skate, 9-sign. Then the silly stories relate them.
In the beginning the kids use the stories as a prop to remember, but eventually they don’t need them as much, if at all.
Here is a video of Alex writing some of them out-you can hear her using the ‘clues’.
http://youtu.be/rv6Vbihko8o
Of course, we did lots of preliminary work to make sure she understood what it was she was actually doing:)
Lakeshore has a very useful manipulative I used because it was ready-made, but you could easily make something similar yourself:
Honestly, I think her understanding of multiplication came very quickly because of the living math books we read. We read at least one living math book every night as part of her bedtime reading as it really creates a love an interest in math concepts that she would not otherwise see for years! Last week we had a Fibonacci nature hunt sparked by one such book. Her favorite (and mine!) for understanding multiplication was called:
Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream. I will link it for you.
http://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Beans-Amazing-Marilyn-Brainy/dp/0590300121/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383311219&sr=1-1&keywords=amanda+bean’s+amazing+dream
Of course, we also did skip counting. I either made up songs or altered some of the Classical Conversations skip-counting songs. Hint: if you want to use these, the CC app is only $10 instead of purchasing the $40 CD and materials!
I partnered the songs with some really fun skip-counting bracelets made by a teacher, called Math Bands. A separate bracelet for each set of numbers. She wore each one as we learned the song. They are cheap, about $11?
https://sites.google.com/site/learninstylemathbands/
I also remember that she really liked to do some free skip-counting mazes I printed off from Confessions of a Homeschooler:
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2012/07/skip-counting-mazes.html
I will say that I taught simple division right along with the multiplication, and also added to the cards from multiplication.com the symbols for squaring a number and taking the square root as it seems to make sense, and I am SO glad I did. I think it really helped her understand, and it is much more automatic in her mind…with no extra work!
When you get to the point where you are practicing the facts, take a look at a game called ‘60-second sweep’. You can find videos on YouTube to encourage the kids to go faster and faster!
Then lots of games, apps, etc. I am sure I can post some of our favorites if you like:)
Kerileanne99,
Awesome response. It was super helpful. I knew I read someone on here who had a child who learned Multiplication tables for her daddy’s birthday through an online program, and I just didn’t know how to find the links and info about it again. Great read and wonderful info!! Many Thanks.
Those were great suggestions from Keri!
To add, we do a lot of physical activities for math, combining exercise and math. (3 little ones to keep busy and happy :yes: )
What really helped me is to have math songs that I can use as a theme song for an activity.
There are a few available out there. The ones I will definitely recommend are
Math with Mar – http://musicwithmar.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=48
some of the Twin Sisters Math music are ok too, but not as good as Math with Mar
Music and rhyme make things easy to remember and fun to practice.
Thank you Keri - very helpful and informative as always!
And thanks also Skylark - we love music for learning
Wow, thank for all the recommendations, Keri and Skylark!
Have just checked out Classical conversations app. Here in Europe there is only Cycle 1, Cycle 2 and Memory Foundation on offer. In the description of each of those it says it teaches the multiplication timetable 1-15: does that mean the facts are spread over three apps? or which app exactly offerst the multiplication tables please?
Early Learning17-
I just have the cycle 1 app so far, but I can give you an idea of what is on it. It is divided into topics, so I will keep it to math. This app does not specifically go through multiplication facts, but focuses on skip counting in great detail! So songs for skip counting by 2-15…then skip counting by squares and cubes. I actually taught basic skip counting by say 2, 3, 5, 10 and then Alex learned all of her multiplication facts. It wasn’t until later that we went back, mostly for fun, to learn all the rest. However, it is really nice if she forgets a fact or needs to figure out more complicated multiplication mentally to have the skip counting to fall back on. I know some really believe that all skip counting should be mastered first, but I found that as long as she understood clearly what exactly she was doing as far as multiplying, she learned the math facts faster. Otherwise, it seemed she would get lazy and want to skip count rather than think to remember the answer lol
Other things in the math section of cycle 1: conversions, basic geometry equations for things like area of rectangle/circle, Pythagorean thereom, area, circumference, etc.
And that is just the math section!
I do have to say, I personally think many of the skip-counting songs for CC are dreadful 
I tried to stay fairly close to them as we may do CC next year (maybe), but I found we had to either slightly add our own flair or beat a table drum, something to add a spark to peg in her memory…and be advised that so e of the songs that are used for the ‘tune’ are specific songs that are from hymns. I didn’t find it a problem to just teach her the melody and go from there, but just for your information.
Oh! We learned these all VERY quickly, and here is how: I wrote all the numbers on the backs of 1/2 of an index card, and laid them out on the table in a line. We then sang the song, with Alex pointing to each number as she said it. After a couple of times I took away (or allowed her to do it as she found it hilarious) a couple of the cards randomly. Sing again, take away a couple more, until voila! Literally learned in minutes. Review the next day, learn another set or two. We then reviewed them all a couple of times that week driving in the car, but there was really not too much more work to be done.
One nice thing about the app is that as the skip-counting song plays, the string of numbers appears on the IPad if you want to only do it from there.
If you guys simply want to know which songs they used for which numbers, and like my card method to try, I am sure I can type out the list here…
Skylark mentioned exercise and math and I’m just wondering if anyone has tried Can do kids dvd’s and what do you think of it? I found it a while ago and was considering purchasing it. Here’s a post about it and a clip to what’s in the video. http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/Homeschool_Reviews/4862.php
and http://www.candokids.com/ Has anyone heard of it or tried it?
On another note, my little one is 19months and we’ve been working heavily on counting. We use lots of videos and songs. He was doing well counting to 20 and then all of the sudden I started showing him regularly skip counting videos and he started counting, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and up skipping 3,4,5. Only in the past couple of days has he counted objects and actually called them 1, 2, 3, and 4. But he still sometimes reverts to 1,2,6,7, etc. I’m kind of concerned about going back to teaching skip counting at the same time we are mastering counting. Is it something, I should hold off on? Or should I just keep teaching both regular counting and skip counting and figure it will eventually all come together?
Personally I think you can teach counting strongly first and then once the basic understanding of counting is there then teach skip counting.
That doesn’t mean you can’t expose your child to skip counting sooner but until counting is strong I wouldn’t expect your child to repeat a skip counting sequence. Getting strong on counting takes quite a bit of repetition and practice. Once they have it they will learn skip counting much quicker.
Counting is my son’s weakest math skill. I agree about mastering counting by 1s before skip counting.
Something that I should note. I never taught my son to count above 20. I taught him 0-20 backwards and forwards. He was able to figure out how to count any number beyond that by learning the pattern. Once he had mastered counting to 20, I next was able to teach him skip counting by 10s. A Hundreds chart helped a lot. Next it was skip counting by 5s. Using all the family members hands and feet, and tally sticks helped wiifh that. And next we taught skip counting by 2s as we focused on parity. By making those association I think it did help with decreasing any confusion. Coins can help with skip counting also.
Mandabplus3 and Korrale4kq, thank you guys so much. That’s a huge help. I’ve been going back and forth in my mind what to do. We’ll stay with the counting alone for a while. And, Korrale4kq, thanks for all of the details. We got Splash Math K because of one of your other posts and I’ve been scouring over the other things you’ve been teaching your little one, too. I haven’t had much success at finding the Number Crew stuff. Can you buy it somewhere or how did you find it? Like your little one, mine is much weaker in Math. He’s amazing at reading, but math isn’t coming as quickly. Although, I guess I don’t know who I’m comparing him to on math at 19 months. Also, guys, I’m wondering what will constitute mastery before I expose him to skip counting. Right now he is touching items and counting them. I’m assuming once he can touch and count up to 20 on different items, he’s got it. I just don’t want to go back too quickly to skip counting, until I know he won’t revert to weird counting behaviors!
We do not show many cartoons at all in our house, but I would definitely recommend Number Crew. They are full of counting and math activities.
We got the whole series with 1 year subscription to Discovery Education http://www.discoveryeducation.com/ ( and there is a download option there, if you do not want to watch online, which worked excellently for us, because of the internet connection).
I made a summary what each episode is about, what songs and math concepts are introduced and each and a summary of games and hands on activities we’ve done to correspond with each episode. I primarily done it for myself to keep our activities organised and also to have a record so we can do them again with my youngest. If it is something of interest I can share those.
We also access number crew from Discovery Streaming.
As for counting there is a lot to do to meet mastery. I am just going to list those things. Just ask and I will explain anything if you need more detail. The things listed below don’t need to be taught in the order I have stated. My son learnt subitizing, numerals, counting backwards and forwards and then counting on. Cardinality and bijection he learnt last. Which may be attributed to his counting weakness. But he is strong in all other Math areas.
Counting backwards and forwards
Counting on
Cardinality
Bijection
Numeral association
Bonus things to know for number sense.
Ordinality
Parity
Then the rest of early math is all concepts. Shapes, measure, comparisons, locations.
At 19 months you have a choice in how you wish to teach arithmetic. You can teach if after all the other math stuff has been mastered, or at least a child has become familiar with a lot of it. This is a manipulative heavy approach. Or you can teach arithmetic right after a child knows numerals and how to count.
Here I posted some of the activities we do using Number Crew Videos as springboard. But you can do all those activities on their own - counting and cardinality. http://earlyeducationessentials.com/learning-math-concepts-with-the-number-crew/ Let me know if it is useful and if anyone will appreciate me sharing some more of our activities. We use ideas from Marshmallow Math, various other sources and lots of inspiration.
I absolutely loved reading your post!
You came up with a lot of good extension ideas for number crew. I look forward to seeing more.
Thank you, Korrale4kq!
Yes, I will share more. I am trying to keep the record of things we do for the sake of my youngest boy. When I realized that unless I record my activities and ideas, I dont remember the a year down the line :nowink:
Korrale4kq and Skylark, Oh, my goodness, guys, “Thank you so much again.” All this information is just delicious. Sorry for the delay in responding back. I’ve got a new baby due next month and we are considered a high risk pregnancy. My last one was born 2 months early, but thank God, this one is past that point now, but things are a wee bit crazy right now with all that’s going on.
Skylark, I looked on the Discovery Education Website, but could not find a price anywhere I looked. It seemed to slip through my fingers. They had a free trial, but I couldn’t find the price. I googled it and found something about discovery plus streaming on a homeschool co-op, but it looked like it was going to run about $200.00 a year discounted, in addition to the price to be a part of the co-op. Is the $200.00 an accurate price?
I was blown away by your blog, I favorited it and I can’t wait to read more. Soooooooo much great information!!! I love hands on activities and have been making tons of busy bag counting and math activities and printing worksheets, so your post were right up our alley. What fun. I really, really want to read more, so thank you for posting all the wonderful study plans. I definitely look forward to reading more. I’m just a bit concerned about the price for the discovery streaming. Things are slightly tight for us financially with the new baby coming. I’m hoping maybe Discovery Education is a different price than what I saw online. I’ll probably get the kindle version of Marshmallow Math. After reading Korrale4kq’s post, I think we will definitely need it.
Speaking of which, Korrale4kq, your information was awesome too. But to be honest (shame on me), I had to go through your post with a google window open in order to look up some of the terms you used. Boy, I thought I knew what I was doing until I read your post. Regarding Subitizing, I wish my little one had been more willing to do Little Math, I bet that would have helped. He would not watch it for the longest time. It was like pulling hairs, so we shelved it and went to videos. I’ve pulled it out again at least for the first 10-20 numbers and he seems a bit more willing now. Hopefully, this will help with the subitizing. Counting On seemed pretty interesting- as sort of an early form of additon. Cardinality, I found this video https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/kindergarten-counting-cardinality-lesson and read through some definitions on line and some core standards. I looked up bijection and couldn’t find anything completely related to young children, and then I put in bijection and kindergarten and came across your blog. My little one should be waking up soon from his nap, but I’m going to spend some time reading through all of the info you’ve got posted on there. You mentioned arithmetic along with counting, or did you wait? Also, if you have any plans to post about how you taught arithmetic, please let me know. I’d love to read that blog post.
Again, everybody thank you for sharing such amazing information! It is so super helpful.
GodLovesYou, I am glad it was a help!
Regarding the NumberCrews… We used them because we already had access to the videos with membership, and we also had a few DVDs of the program.
We are pretty selective in using cartoon educational videos and since we made this an exception we would usually do different hands on activities to supplement the actual videos. But honestly you can do all those activities I’ve listed here (http://earlyeducationessentials.com/learning-math-concepts-with-the-number-crew/) and more with no videos necessary. These activities are really not built on videos and do not require any videos to be effective!
Also most of the activities we do, do not require expensive manipulatives or tools and we use a lot of things commonly found around the house for our math activities :yes:
I put together a short booklet on Counting and Cardinality activities and games for young children that we’ve done and loved. I will have it posted in a day or two, but if you would not see it, let me know and I will send it to you directly Somehow, it helps me to have my ideas and activities organized ( with 3 children under 4 it gets busy sometimes, so organization helps :yes: ).
Skylark, I’m really longing for the Number Crew Series, so I’m going to look into it further and see what we can do. My little one learns really well through dvds, so it sounds perfect for him. If we have to, we will just stick to the activities, but I really wanting to get my hands on the series.
The counting booklet would be wonderful. I will keep my eyes open for it on your blog. If you don’t post it, please, definitely feel free to email it. I love learning activities. I’ve been on pinterest, youtube and all over the internet looking for diy math manipulatives and math crafts so we can do math activities each day. So reading and watching other Mommy’s activities is such an inspiration to me! I can’t wait to read what you did.
I don’t know how you do it with 3 little ones under 4. I’ve been wondering how I’m going to handle just 2. My 19 month old and I have kept to a rigorous schedule of learning everyday since he was a wee baby and now I’ve got to figure out how to continue doing that and start it with a new one. My hats off to you that you are able to do it with 3. We want another one after this one, so I might end up being in the same boat you are in another year or so. It’s great to see someone handling it all so successfully!