Do you have those cringe-worthy memories of childhood spent at the kitchen table, mindlessly flipping through flashcards, all while dreaming of the freedom outside with friends? Trust me, I’ve been there, and it was torture. For me, memorizing the multiplication tables felt like scaling Mount Everest in elementary school. So, when my 8-year-old son came home one day joyfully reciting them without a hint of flashcard agony, I was both amazed and a tad envious.
How on earth did he manage that? It turned out he had learned his multiplication tables from 1 to 12 in the most delightful way imaginable—through catchy nursery rhymes. His enthusiastic teacher, who apparently had quite the charm, taught them to skip-count to tunes they already loved. Suddenly, those daunting strings of numbers transformed into something as easy to remember as the lyrics of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” It felt like pure magic.
In the following months, I watched as he sat at the dining table, diligently working on his math, occasionally humming a tune to help him multiply. He never forgot a single one, and before I knew it, I had to practice just to keep up with my own child and avoid the embarrassment of being outsmarted by a third grader!
By the time my youngest daughter hit third grade, I was a total believer. We sang these catchy tunes while washing dishes, belted them out during car rides to gymnastics, and harmonized at the table during homework sessions. My 5-year-old quickly picked up most of the songs, and even my 3-year-old could manage a few. In fact, I suspect the only words he knows set to the melody of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” are the multiples of seven. Odd? Maybe. But I’ve fully embraced our quirks.
Naturally, I couldn’t keep this math trick to myself. I shared it with everyone I knew, explaining which songs went with which multiples. However, when my friends tried to fit them to the tunes without hearing them, it was a bit of a disaster. So, like any good parent would do, I decided it was time for my son to shine on YouTube. Well, maybe “shine” is a bit of a stretch, but he helped me create fun videos for each song, paired with simple animations.
We aimed to spread the joy far and wide, hoping to save trees from becoming flashcards, prevent homework meltdowns between parents and kids, and ultimately help save the planet! Here are our seven “Skip Counting” videos you can check out:
- 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”
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In summary, teaching kids multiplication can be fun and engaging when you incorporate music. By using catchy tunes, children can learn essential math skills without the dread of flashcards. This approach not only makes learning enjoyable but also helps parents maintain their sanity during homework time.