Should multiplication facts be memorized before starting SM 3

[Asma_08]

Anyone have experience with a young student moving into SM3. My son still skip counts and I was wondering if we should focus on memorizing those facts before moving on to 3A.

Thanks for any advice.

[chai]

You have time to work on them while he is doing level 3. However, it is definitely helpful as you move forward to have them memorized as soon as possible. My dd is just now "fluent" in her multiplication tables and we are starting level 5.

[LisaK in VA]

It's really helpful, but you can go ahead without them too (just takes longer and is painful to watch...)

My son finally has his down at level 5 -- I guess he decided he didn't want to spend so much time on math :D

[Linda...inOwasso]

Boy, that one is entirely up to you.

My dd7 finished 2b in May. Instead of going right into 3a, I spent a couple of summer months drilling the multiplication facts heavily. It's paid off since as a previous poster mentioned, she's able to complete 3a much quicker and easier.

We school year-round so fortunately I don't have the pressure of completing a level of any curricula within a specified amount of time. FWIW, both my dd's do a worksheet of 100 math facts daily in addition to their math curriculum all year long.

I think either way you'll be fine... my suggestion would be to add in daily drill of facts and then proceed (slowly, if needed) with 3a.

Good Luck! :)

[Asma_08]

Thank you everyone, thats what I needed to know. I will definitely add daily drills and I think I will follow Linda's advice and take a few weeks of to focus on multiplication facts.


I appreciate the input, it was very helpful.


Boy, that one is entirely up to you.

My dd7 finished 2b in May. Instead of going right into 3a, I spent a couple of summer months drilling the multiplication facts heavily. It's paid off since as a previous poster mentioned, she's able to complete 3a much quicker and easier.

We school year-round so fortunately I don't have the pressure of completing a level of any curricula within a specified amount of time. FWIW, both my dd's do a worksheet of 100 math facts daily in addition to their math curriculum all year long.

I think either way you'll be fine... my suggestion would be to add in daily drill of facts and then proceed (slowly, if needed) with 3a.

Good Luck! :)

[Karin]

Coming in late to say that my visual spatial dd's did not memorize their multiplication tables first. Drills failed miserably, and they learned them by doing them. They're great with them now. For my younger dd and my ds I combined/will combine another program that focused on multiplication at the same time. Ds will be moving to 3A this fall.

[Kalah]

Drills failed for us too. We just kept up with learning the tables as we continued SM to harder levels. The only disadvantage to this is that it does take him longer now to process some problems. It's frustrating to me but much less so than if I had forced him to do the tables, which probably would have been the death of us both! :o)

[Laura Corin]

Hobbes still skip counts and is just finishing 3A. He's done fine - we are working on the tables slowly, mostly learning by using them.

Best wishes

Laura

[katilac]

Drilling the multiplication facts is a huge part of level 3, so no, you don't need to have it done ahead of time.

Level 4 really puts those facts to use (factoring, multiples, etc), so it's quite beneficial to be solid on them before that point.