My Daughter Kept Forgetting Her Times Tables – Until We Tried This Approach
We'd practiced 7×8 hundreds of times, but it still wouldn't stick. Here's why traditional memorization failed my daughter and the surprising method that finally made multiplication click.
'What's 7 times 8?' I asked my daughter Mia for what felt like the hundredth time that week. She stared at the ceiling, lips moving slightly, fingers twitching. After ten seconds: '54? No wait... 56.' It was 56. She'd gotten it right. But the next day, she'd forgotten again. We'd been practicing times tables for six months. We'd used flashcards, songs, apps, worksheets, rewards, games—everything the internet suggested. Some facts stuck. Others, like that stubborn 7×8, just wouldn't stay. I was frustrated. Mia was demoralized. What were we doing wrong? What I eventually discovered changed not just how we approached multiplication, but how I understood memory and learning itself.
The Times Table Struggle
Mia's third-grade teacher had sent home a note: 'Mia needs to work on multiplication fact fluency at home. She's falling behind in math because she's still counting to solve multiplication problems.' The implication was clear: we weren't doing our job as parents. So we doubled down on practice.
Every night, flashcards. Every car ride, times tables songs. Every spare moment, multiplication apps. And some facts did stick—the easy ones. 2s, 5s, 10s were fine. Even 3s and 4s eventually solidified. But 6s, 7s, and 8s? They'd seem solid one day and vanish the next.
Why Multiplication Tables Are So Hard
I started researching, and what I learned helped me understand our struggle:
- •100 facts is genuinely a lot (10×10 table)
- •Many facts sound similar and cause interference (6×8=48 vs 6×9=54)
- •Unlike counting or addition, multiplication has no intuitive pattern for some facts
- •Rote memorization without understanding creates fragile knowledge
- •Inconsistent practice lets facts fade before they're truly cemented
That last point hit me hard. We'd practice intensely for a few days, then get busy and skip a week. The facts that seemed solid would crumble. It was like filling a bucket with holes.
The Problem With How We Were Teaching
Our approach was pure rote memorization: repeat the fact over and over until it sticks. This works for some children, but for Mia, it created problems:
- •Facts memorized in isolation didn't connect to any understanding
- •Without understanding, similar facts got confused constantly
- •The pressure and frustration made memory worse, not better
- •Boring repetition led to disengagement and resistance
I realized we weren't building knowledge—we were cramming for a test that never ended. And Mia's brain was treating these facts as temporary information, not permanent knowledge.
The trickiest facts for most children: 6×7, 6×8, 7×8, and 8×8. Research shows these cause the most errors and take the longest to memorize. They deserve special attention.
What Finally Worked
Building on Known Facts
Instead of treating each fact as isolated, I taught Mia to use facts she already knew. For 6×7, she'd think: '5×7 is 35, plus one more 7 is 42.' For 8×7, she'd think: '8×5 is 40, plus 8×2 is 16, total 56.' Suddenly, she had strategies instead of just hoping she'd remember.
Using Patterns and Relationships
I taught her patterns that made facts memorable:
- •9s pattern: The digits always sum to 9 (9×7=63, and 6+3=9)
- •Commutative property: 6×8 equals 8×6, so she only needs to remember half the facts
- •Doubles: 7×8 is the same as 7×7 plus one more 7
- •Near-squares: 6×8 is close to 7×7 (49), just one 7 less (49-7=42)
Visual and Physical Models
I realized Mia needed to see what multiplication meant, not just memorize symbols. We used arrays (rows and columns of objects), area models, and eventually—the breakthrough—the soroban. The physical manipulation of beads transformed abstract facts into something her hands and eyes could understand.
Spaced Repetition
Instead of cramming all facts at once, we adopted spaced repetition: reviewing each fact at increasing intervals. A new fact gets reviewed on Day 1, Day 3, Day 7, Day 14, Day 30. This builds long-term memory instead of short-term cramming.
Making It Meaningful
We connected multiplication to real life constantly. 'We have 7 people coming to your party and each needs 8 party favors. How many do we need?' 'There are 6 rows of cookies with 8 cookies in each row.' Context creates memory hooks that abstract facts don't.
The Soroban Surprise
The biggest shift came when we introduced the soroban. I was skeptical at first—how would moving beads help with multiplication? But the effect was remarkable. The soroban gave Mia a physical way to understand what multiplication really means: groups of groups. She could see and feel 7×8 as seven groups of eight beads.
More importantly, the soroban built automaticity through physical repetition. After weeks of moving beads, her fingers knew the patterns. And when fingers know patterns, the brain follows. Eventually, she could visualize the bead movements without touching anything—mental multiplication that came from physical practice.
The soroban doesn't teach multiplication facts through memorization—it builds them through physical patterns. The hands train the brain in a way flashcards can't.
Our Practice Schedule That Actually Worked
We settled on a sustainable schedule that finally moved the needle:
- •Daily: 5-10 minutes of mixed facts review, focusing on weakest areas
- •Weekly: Introduce 1-2 new facts (no more—quality over quantity)
- •Monthly: Quick assessment to identify gaps and adjust focus
- •Always: Keep it short, positive, and pressure-free
The key insight: consistency beats intensity. Five minutes every day is far more effective than 30 minutes once a week. The brain needs regular reinforcement to move facts from short-term to long-term memory.
Handling the Hard Facts
For those stubborn facts (6×7, 6×8, 7×8), we created specific strategies:
- •6×7=42: 'Six times seven equals forty-two' has a rhythm when you say it fast
- •6×8=48: 'Six and eight went to the store, bought forty-eight and came back for more'
- •7×8=56: '5, 6, 7, 8' (56=7×8) - the numbers are in sequence!
- •8×8=64: 'I ate and ate until I was sick on the floor' (8×8=64)
Silly? Absolutely. Effective? Surprisingly so. Memory loves stories and patterns more than raw repetition.
The Turning Point
About two months into our new approach, something shifted. I asked Mia '7 times 8' and the answer came instantly: '56.' No ceiling-staring. No finger-twitching. Just... automatic. 'How did you get that so fast?' I asked. She shrugged. 'I just know it now.' Those four words were worth every minute of our journey.
Where Mia Is Now
Mia is in fifth grade now. Her multiplication facts are solid—truly solid, not temporarily memorized. More importantly, she understands what multiplication means, so she can apply it flexibly to new situations. Her teacher recently commented that Mia is now one of the strongest math students in the class. The same child who 'needed to work on fact fluency.'
For Parents in the Frustration Phase
If your child keeps forgetting their times tables despite practice, the problem probably isn't effort—it's approach. Rote memorization without understanding creates knowledge that crumbles under pressure. But when you combine understanding (what multiplication means), strategies (patterns and relationships), physical tools (like the soroban), and consistent practice (spaced repetition), facts stick for good.
The Long Game
Multiplication fluency isn't about speed-drilling until facts stick through sheer repetition. It's about building a web of understanding where each fact connects to others. When Mia knows that 7×8 relates to 7×7+7 and 8×7 and 56=8×7, she's not holding one fragile fact—she's holding a network of connected knowledge. That network doesn't crumble.
Help your child build multiplication facts that actually stick. Sorokid's soroban-based approach creates understanding and automaticity together—so times tables become permanent knowledge, not temporary memorization.
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