I have been struggling to teach my son multiplication since September. Every curriculum I have used (and I'm on my 3rd math curriculum in 4 years) teaches multiplication based on skip-counting. For him, this method just doesn't seem to help him actually master and memorize the multiplication facts. After months, he still can't do multiplication by 3's or 5's without having to think through the skip counts. We have barely touched 4's and not even started some of the more complex multiplication like 6's, 7's and 8's.

Realizing that this approach wasn't working - and that he doesn't have any patience with manipulatives either - I searched online yesterday for "teaching multiplication facts" and ran across Timez Attack. I had heard of it in the past through one of the homeschooling Yahoo! groups I'm part of, so I thought it might work and went ahead and downloaded the free version. Little did I realize how much it would help him because it engages learning with something he loves - an adventure video game. In the course of playing one level yesterday, he easily memorized the 2x multiplication facts. Now, I realize the 2's are one of the easiest groups of multiplication facts to master because it's just a matter of doubling a number (using simple addition). But this morning I quizzed him on some of the facts, and he was able to answer from memory - not by doubling the number in his head. So I'm willing to let him play his way to learning multiplication facts. And, to be honest, it's really nice for me that he is working on this independently!