Do you recall the tedious hours spent at the dining table, laboriously flipping through flashcards, all while dreaming of the moment you could finally head outside to play with your friends? I can relate, and it was truly a struggle. For me, mastering multiplication tables felt like scaling Mount Everest during my elementary years. So, when my 8-year-old daughter returned home one day joyfully reciting her times tables without a trace of flashcard agony, I was taken aback and a touch envious.
How had she pulled this off? She had not only mastered her multiplication tables from 1 to 12, but she was genuinely enjoying the process. A flicker of jealousy ignited within me, wishing she had endured the same trials I did to achieve this milestone, but that feeling quickly faded when I realized I wouldn’t have to endure the same painful path to teach her.
Desperate to learn her secret, I found out that her male teacher, whom she was quite fond of, had introduced a method of skip counting set to familiar nursery rhymes. The once daunting strings of numbers that I had labored to memorize were now as easy to remember as the lyrics to “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” It felt like pure magic.
Over the ensuing months, I observed her at the table, diligently working through her math homework, occasionally pausing to mentally hum a familiar tune while using her fingers to track her multiplication. She retained every single fact, and her speed grew to the point where I had to practice just to keep up and avoid the embarrassment of being outperformed by my third grader.
By the time my younger daughter reached third grade, I was fully on board with this method. We sang these catchy tunes while washing dishes, belted them out during car rides to gymnastics, and even crooned them at the table during homework sessions. My 5-year-old has absorbed most of these songs, and even my 3-year-old can manage a few. In fact, it’s plausible that the only words he knows to the melody of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” are the multiples of seven. Is that unusual? Perhaps, but I can certainly accept that.
Naturally, I shared this innovative math technique with friends and family. I explained which melodies corresponded to which multiples, but many struggled to fit the lyrics correctly to the tunes without hearing them. In response to their challenges, I did what any proactive parent would do. I enlisted my daughter to help create instructional videos featuring each song paired with simple animations.
Our goal was to share these resources widely, hoping to spare countless trees from becoming flashcards, prevent homework-related conflicts between parents and children, and essentially, contribute to a more harmonious planet. Below are our seven “Skip Counting” videos:
- Skip Counting By 3s: “Where is Thumbkin”
- Skip Counting by 4s: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”
- Skip Counting by 6s: “London Bridge Is Falling Down”
- Skip Counting by 7s: “Mary Had a Little Lamb”
- Skip Counting by 8s: “This Old Man”
- Skip Counting by 9s: “Ten Little Indians”
- Skip Counting by 12s: “Jingle Bells”
This approach not only makes learning enjoyable, but it also fosters a collaborative environment in which children can thrive. For further information on fertility and pregnancy, consider exploring this excellent resource. Additionally, you can find valuable insights on enhancing male fertility here. For more details on our content, please visit our advertiser disclosure.
In summary, teaching multiplication through melodic skip counting can transform the learning experience from tedious to enjoyable, fostering a positive relationship with math for children.