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Materials Review: How to Remember Multiplication And Division Facts

 

How To Remember Multiplication and Division Facts A Workbook For Adults by Emma E. Gunterman, New Wind Publishing

Who would use this book: How to Remember Multiplication and Division Facts is written for a tutor and student to use together to understand and remember the multiplication and division facts. The approach is very straightforward and thorough, and covers the multiplication and division facts as well as the kinds of questions asked on the GED (High School Equivalency) test. Ms. Gunterman calls upon a lifetime of experience teaching and tutoring in developing this book.

As an alternative to prescribing intensive practice with retrieving the answers to math facts, a method that has failed to produce much but anxiety and unreliable results for so many people, she incorporates what she calls the "block method" into the learning process. If the answer doesn't come to mind to a multiplication problem, the student uses a grid and counts out the answer. This goes a long way to short-circuit the anxiety loop that trying to retrieve answers "from thin air" can create, and reinforces understanding what is actually happening when two numbers are multiplied. As the introduction states:

There are many different ways of learning. The basic method of counting out the answers of multiplication facts is an old, tried and true method. Exactly how we teach it, think about it, learn it, and do it will differ from person to person. This Workbook, based on ten years of experience, gives enough guidance so that you can master basic multiplicatoin and division skills for your job, for a GED, for everyday needs.

There are many other helpful tips and tricks throughout the book, though counting the blocks is the main bridge from concrete examples to numbers. Some students -- but primarily students younger than those this book targets -- would need more visual examples and different ways to practice with manipulatives.

The book goes beyond just teaching the facts, and includes multiplying and dividing 2 and 3 digit numbers and too-often-forgotten skills such as dealing with zeroes in multiplication and division problems. Extra practice is provided for the kinds of problems that so often trap the new learner.

The available resources for teaching adult numeracy skills are few and far between -- fortunately, this one is well done and worth including in your library.