Do you recall those tedious afternoons spent at the kitchen table, flipping through endless flashcards, all while dreaming of the outdoors and the adventures awaiting you with friends? I certainly do, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. For me, tackling multiplication tables felt like climbing a mountain, so when my 8-year-old son returned home humming them one day—without a single flashcard session—I was taken aback and just a tad jealous.
How was this even feasible? Somehow, he had managed to grasp his multiplication tables from 1 to 12, and he was enjoying the process. A twinge of envy bubbled up as I realized he had escaped the drudgery I had endured. Desperate to uncover his secret, I learned that his enthusiastic teacher, whom he admired, had introduced him to skip counting using catchy nursery rhymes. The once-daunting strings of numbers became as easy to recall as the lyrics to “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” It was pure magic!
In the following months, I watched him diligently tackle his math homework, pausing occasionally to hum a familiar tune while counting on his fingers. His recall was flawless, and he became so quick that I found myself needing to practice just to keep pace and avoid the embarrassment of being outsmarted by my own child.
When my youngest started third grade, I was fully onboard with this fun approach. We sang these catchy tunes while doing chores, belted them out during car rides, and chanted them at the dinner table. My 5-year-old has picked up most of them, and even my 3-year-old can sing along to a few. In fact, it’s quite possible that his only knowledge of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” revolves around the multiples of seven. Is that quirky? Sure, but I’m okay with it.
Naturally, I spread the word about this math trick to my friends and family. I shared the melodies to sing for each multiple, but many struggled to fit the words to the tunes without hearing them first. So, in true parent fashion, I enlisted my son to help create YouTube videos featuring each song paired with simple animations.
We aimed to reach as many people as possible, hoping to save trees from becoming flashcards and preserve the harmony between parents and kids during homework time. Here 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 strategy not only made learning multiplication tables fun but also created cherished family moments. For more insights on enhancing your learning journey, you might also like to check out this blog post. If you’re interested in more parental resources, IVF Babble provides excellent information on pregnancy and home insemination. And for those looking to boost their fertility, Make a Mom offers reliable at-home insemination kits.
In summary, turning multiplication lessons into songs not only lightened the load of learning but also fostered a joyful environment for my children and me. This simple math trick could very well be the key to making numbers fun for future generations.
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