Dboyz Playing Multiplication Minus Manipulatives.

Here are a couple of vids and links to more on multiplication, and tips on how to make it painless and maybe even fun. Spending a year doing worksheets over and over again is SO LAST CENTURY.



The idea is to mix it up, let fractions teach multiplication, let algebra teach multiplication, as well as story problems...and as in these to vids even when you are doing multiplication keep the drill work to a minimum play with blocks, make squares and rectangles. You can hear them say it's fun when I do the writing because they just have to say the answer. At this age writing is work...too many kids get turned off right here because you make it work. Multiplication makes math easy because it makes counting FAST. So right when they should be getting to the point where the math gets easier and easier because they can count fast, it's turned into work and no fun and boring memorization instead of a gateway to being able to do more complex and bigger problems. Remember math isn't just computation. Computation is how we DO math...but it's not the math.

Base ten blcoks and manipulatives can help make math fun if you use them correctly and you have the right kind of blocks. It's all about SPEED. Counting out lots of cubes or pieces takes too long.

Here we are practicing multi-digit multiplication. Unspoken is a lesson on place value and the names of numbers. Hear the "OH!" from the younger boy?



"They give it to you hard in school."

This way is "Easier than blinking."

The idea is to make it fun and if this is your first time to the blog these two have spent HOURS AND HOURS with blocks before we go here. Here is a page showing them learning some multiplication using base ten blocks.

Notice I do all the writing even though the older boy wants to do some...if we weren't on vid I might have let him do some but it slows things down when I'm trying to make a vid. and youtubers have no attention span. Writing on the whiteboard is fun. Writing in a workbook is not as much fun. You can see I also draw pictures and do a fast lesson on division with it.


When it's bigger it's just more multiplication tables. "Doesn't matter it's easy.

This is a long vid:



YOU write for them and it goes fast and easy. You can have them practice writing but I want them to practice math facts NOT making symbols. Writing slows everything down at this age and makes the books NO fun. Like I have said before be careful with worksheets. They usually take the fun out of math. This is also a great way to spend "quality time" with your kids...

Myth is because they can't write they can't do math...false. That's like saying because they can't write they can't speak English.

When you get right down to it it all we are doing is counting. Adding and multiplication is just counting quickly.

You also see multiplication and division go together...

I also give them exposure to the cubes. They have seen the square numbers before and it's good to now 1728 is a cube and so is 343 and so on...later they will recognize square numbers and cubes when they see them because they have been exposed to them.

I can't stress enough before you do what I'm doing in those vids you play with blocks and draw pictures! These boys have played with blocks for YEARS. Once they do they won't need blocks or symbols either. There are plenty of posts where they do math "in their heads."

Playing With Cubes

Getting to know a little about CUBES is important. Children need to have experience with numbers. Square numbers are good to be familiar with too and so are cubes. The problem with a lot of base 10 blocks is they represent cubes as...well, cubes. Which makes sense except that then the manipulatives are limited to the third power then. How do you show powers past 3? Simple you don't.


Here are the first 12 written out. But certainly DON'T just write them out as a drill until AFTER you have built them and talked about them and played with them a bit first. Here is a vid called Crewton Ramone Squares, Cubes and Division because it's about squares cubes and division. I'm creative like that.

Mortensen Math keeps it in two dimensions. Arithmatic not physics. (x)(x²) = x³ or (x²)(x) = x³ instead of (x)(x)(x) = x³ this is a subtle but important distinction which allows me to teach very young students higher powers and so called more advanced mathematics.

Before you get to cubes might be a good idea to play with squares and square numbers. My students will write them out several times during a course of lessons. So they see the numbers and have some experience with them. This will stand them in good stead when they take standardized tests. Many students get through high school without ever knowing their squares and cubes and at Crewton Ramone's house of math we go all the way to 25 with these. (And out to 20x20 on the multiplication tables.) Seriously, your kids know the names of the Pokemons but they don't know the name of 17² or 17³...or maybe it's all the characters in Harry Potter...or they can recite lines from Twilight, but you get the idea.

Squares and cubes should be familiar and easy and part of their instant recall just like 2x2 or 10x10x10...and make sure you eventually go out to 25. You have 12 years to get this accomplished. Here is a short video where Sarah and I are studying for her GED and cubes make their appearance...we only go to 12 here.