How to learn times tables: the order and 10 minutes a day

The best order to learn the times tables

Government guidance for teachers suggests learning the times tables in families, because the tables in each family are linked:

1. The 10s, then the 5s. The 5s are half the 10s.
2. The 2s, 4s and 8s. Each is double the one before.
3. The 3s, 6s and 9s. The 6s are double the 3s.
4. The 7s. By now most of the 7s are already known from other tables.
5. The 11s and 12s. Both come from the 10s: ten lots and one or two more lots.

The national curriculum expects the 2s, 5s and 10s in Year 2, the 3s, 4s and 8s in Year 3, and all of them up to 12 × 12 by the end of Year 4. Every table has its own page, with the facts and a practice round: start at the times tables page.

Use the turnaround: 66 facts, not 121

3 × 8 and 8 × 3 are the same fact. Children learn this in Year 2: multiplication can be done in either order. It's the single biggest help with the times tables, because it cuts the 121 facts from 2 × 2 to 12 × 12 down to 66.

It also means each new table is smaller than it looks. By the time your child reaches the 7s, they already know 7 × 2, 7 × 3, 7 × 4, 7 × 5, 7 × 6, 7 × 8, 7 × 9 and 7 × 10 from other tables.

Build new facts from ones your child knows

When a fact won't come, your child can work it out from one they do know. These are the ways schools use:

• Doubling. The 4s are double the 2s and the 8s are double the 4s, so 8 × 7 is double 7, double again, double again: 14, 28, 56. The 6s are double the 3s, and the 12s are double the 6s.
• One more or one fewer group. Next door answers in a times table are one group apart. If 5 × 6 = 30, then 6 × 6 is one more 6: 36.
• From the 10s. 9 × 7 is ten 7s take away one 7: 70 − 7 = 63. 12 × 7 is ten 7s and two more 7s: 70 + 14 = 84.

Working out is a step on the way, not the end point. Each time your child works a fact out and then uses it, it gets easier to remember next time.

Learn the division facts at the same time

Every multiplication fact gives two division facts: 6 × 4 = 24, so 24 ÷ 4 = 6 and 24 ÷ 6 = 4. The guidance for teachers says children should make this link as they learn each table, rather than afterwards, so it's worth asking a division question now and then.

Say them out loud

Children remember facts by the sound of the three numbers together: "six fours are twenty-four". Saying the whole fact, not just the answer, helps it stick. This is also why chanting a table in order has its place early on.

Little and often: why 10 minutes a day works

Memory builds by bringing a fact back again and again, with gaps in between. A few minutes most days does far more than an hour at the weekend. Ten minutes is plenty, and five minutes is fine on a busy day.

Once your child knows a table in order, mix the facts up. The Year 4 multiplication tables check doesn't go 7, 14, 21, so your child needs to know 7 × 8 without counting up to it.

A 10 minute routine for home

1. 2 minutes: say one table out loud in order, both the question and the answer.
2. 5 minutes: a mixed-up practice round on the tables your child is learning, with no timer. Try a practice round or a times tables test.
3. 2 minutes: take one fact they missed and work it out together from a fact they know.
4. 1 minute: finish on a few facts they know well, so the session ends on a success.

How to learn times tables fast

There's no shortcut that skips practice, but some things make it quicker:

• Start with the tables that come easily, the 10s, 5s and 2s, so your child feels the progress.
• Use the turnaround from the start. It halves the job.
• Spend most of the time on the facts your child doesn't know yet, not the ones they do.
• Leave the timer until the facts feel familiar. Speed comes from remembering, not from rushing, and a timer too early can make a child guess.

A printable times table grid is useful for spotting patterns and checking answers, but it can't replace practice: the aim is to know the fact without looking.