Master of Memory: Accelerated learning, education, memorization - MMem 0277: Reprise: How do I teach math multiplication facts to my daughter?

Episode Date: March 31, 2015

Today, Timothy revisits some ideas on teaching math multiplication facts, with some extra comments on how he would change his answer today. What do you want to learn? Leave your question at http://MasterOfMemory.com/. Music credit: Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet, 2nd movement, performed by the US Army Band.

Hey everyone, this is Timothy, and welcome to episode 277 of Master of Memory. Today we're doing a reprise episode of episode 41 about math multiplication facts. So something I really like about the ideas of this episode are that I was focusing on prime factor mnemonics, which are extremely powerful for learning math extremely quickly. Something I would change is I've actually refined this somewhat, this technique that I talked about in this episode. So instead of using the characters themselves so that two characters combine to make another character, we would actually use the objects. So you have two objects that combine to form another object or rather two objects that somebody has along with another one. So for example, 06, Swish, whom I mentioned in this episode, has a snowball, 02, and also a semi, 03. But meanwhile, Nate, who is 21, has a nut, which is the object for 21, but he also has a semi, 03, and a sock, 07, associated with him.

This is something that I'll be working on, or I guess I probably am working on right now, during my sabbatical in Argentina, this whole system of using prime factor mnemonics with memorable characters. So hopefully you'll see some new materials at Master of Memory on that very soon. Welcome to Master of Memory. I'm Timothy, and I'm here to answer your accelerated learning questions every day and to inspire and empower you to learn anything you want to learn faster than ever. Michelle asked in an email about teaching math facts such as timetables to her 5th grade daughter. Michelle has tried music and repetition but says this isn't working. Is there

a way to teach multiplication facts using mnemonics? Well, Michelle, yes, there is a method, and I'm kind of working this out myself right now, but I think it's really cool to think about math in a different way than we normally do. So we're taught to memorize, you know, how 5 times 6 is 30, and 5 times 7 is 35, and so on. So we're taught to memorize all these different facts, but really the basis of multiplication when it comes down to it is in prime factors. I like to teach math based on prime factors and thinking about how putting prime factors together creates larger numbers and so on. For example, 2 times 6 is the same as 3 times 4, and if you happen to know that 2 times 6 is just 2 times 2 times 3, then

you'll see that 3 times 4, which is 2 times 2 times 3, is the exact same thing. This comes in really handy for doing mental math and for really understanding how multiplication works. So how do you teach this from the very beginning? I would start by creating mnemonics for every single prime factor. Use a memorable character of some sort and associate each number with that memorable character. For me, 2 is a dog named Zane, 3 is a bird named Sam, Five is a ladybug called Sally. And seven is a squirrel whose nickname is Sky. And so on.

So I have these mnemonics that I can associate with each different number. And the idea is that you want to make it so that any time you look at one of these numbers, you think of this character. Of course, you want the character to be visual and memorable. So, you know, numbers are abstract and we don't really, you know, remember those nearly as well or think about them nearly as well as we do visual images. So if you can associate visual images with these numbers, then the numbers become much easier to remember and to work with. Now to do multiplication with these numbers, what you're going to do is to create stories that involve these characters working together. So every time that Zane works together with Sam, they produce Swish, a lizard. Swish is my mnemonic for the number six. So every time Zane and Sam work together, they produce six, and that's two times three is six. When Zane and

Sally work together, they produce Daisy, who represents the number 10. And when Zane and Zane and Sam work together, they produce Tawny, which is 12. And that may sound strange because you end up with two Zanes. But what happens is when you see six times two, you think Zane, Zane, and Sam. And that produces Tawny. Or if you see three times four, you think Zane, Zane, and Sam. And that produces Tawny. So you understand intuitively that 3 times 4 is exactly the same as 2 times 6. Again, I'm still working out some of the details of this method, but I'd be happy to collaborate with you on coming up with the mnemonics and the stories to make it really clear why it is that when Zane works together with Sam, you end up with Swish.

There would be a reason for that. You just have to come up with some sort of story. And again, Michelle, I'd be happy to collaborate with you on that and really come up with a system that works really well. But this method is sound. The fact is, if you think about multiplication in terms of prime factors, it becomes, you know, really handy, like I said, later on when you're doing bigger multiplication.

For example, using this method, students will be able to do some two-digit multiplication really easily in their heads. For example, 35 x 14. Most people would say that's too hard to multiply in your head, but it's actually very simple because 35 is just 5 x 7 and 14 is just 2 x 7. So if you rearrange the factors, what you're really multiplying is just 49 times 10. And anyone can do that. That's just 490. That works with a whole lot of examples. And so again, this foundation in prime factors is really handy.

This is something I personally enjoy teaching to high school freshmen and sophomores as I work on preparing them for high achievement on tests for scholarships. That's something I enjoy doing. It's a lot of fun because in just a few minutes, a student goes from, you know, multiplying 6 times 7 or 9 times 5 to multiplying 12 times 35 or 18 times 25. And for some reason, the student, of course, feels really empowered all of a sudden just because of this little tactic that's really easy to teach.

But of course, it would be even easier for them to learn this and higher multiplication if they had a foundation in prime factor mnemonics from the very start. All right, I hope you've enjoyed this reprise episode. For anyone who has any questions about learning or memorizing anything faster than ever, feel free still to leave a message at masterofmemory.com slash question, and I'll be able to respond quickly to your message from wherever I am. I just won't be able to record an episode on that topic until I'm back in the States in May. Meanwhile, if you want to support the show, please check out our Spanish course at masterofmemory.com slash Spanish. Or if you want to follow my adventures in Argentina or wherever

else I might happen to be, you can do that at timothymoser.com.