The Best Way to Learn Times Tables (Science-Backed, No Tears)

“Learn your times tables” is probably the most Googled phrase in primary school parenting. Most of what comes up is well-intentioned and ineffective. Not unhelpful — actually ineffective, in the sense that it produces slower learning and faster forgetting than the approach cognitive science supports.

Here is what the research says.

Why rote chanting doesn’t stick

The standard approach — chanting the 1 to 12 times table in order, repeatedly — creates a very specific type of memory: rote verbal sequence memory. A child can retrieve “6 × 7 = 42” if they mentally recite the 6 times table up to that point. They cannot reliably retrieve it out of sequence, or under pressure, or when asked 7 × 6 instead.

This is why a child who “knows their times tables” still pauses visibly on 7 × 8. The goal isn’t to know times tables as a song. It’s to access individual facts automatically, from any starting point, under any conditions.

Learn through patterns, not through sequence

Multiplication facts are not random. They have deep structural patterns, and learning through those patterns produces understanding that transfers and sticks. The most useful ones:

• × 2 is doubling. Any child who can double any number already knows their 2 times table. Connecting to a skill they’ve already built is faster than learning something new from scratch.
• × 10 appends a zero. Instant for most children and a foundation for decimal understanding later.
• × 5 always ends in 0 or 5. Useful as a checking mechanism and connects naturally to counting nickels, clock faces, and skip counting.
• × 9 has two reliable strategies: the finger trick, and the digit-sum pattern (9, 18, 27, 36 — the digits always sum to 9). Either route gives a child a fast checking method that doesn’t depend on sequential recall.
• Multiplication is commutative. Knowing that 6 × 8 = 8 × 6 cuts the number of facts to memorise roughly in half. This sounds obvious but many children are never explicitly taught it.

The learning order that works

Resist the instinct to go 1, 2, 3... to 12. Instead, start with the tables that have the most pattern leverage, achieve automaticity at each step, then fill in the remaining facts:

• × 0 and × 1 — immediate rules
• × 10 and × 5 — strong patterns
• × 2 — doubling, built on existing skill
• × 4 — double the 2s
• × 8 — double the 4s (the doubling chain)
• × 3 — skip counting by 3s
• × 6 — 2 × 3, or: result is even when multiplied by an even number
• × 9 — finger trick or digit-sum pattern
• × 7 — hardest; use commutativity (7 × 4 is already known as 4 × 7) to reduce the truly new facts to a handful

By this point the only remaining truly arbitrary facts — things like 7 × 8 and 6 × 7 — are a short list, not a full table.

Retrieval practice beats reading

A child who reads a times table chart is doing something fundamentally different from a child who tries to recall a fact and then checks. The attempt to retrieve — even when it fails — produces stronger memory than passive exposure. This is the retrieval practice effect, one of the most replicated findings in cognitive psychology.

Practically: cover the answers, try to recall, then check. Flashcards work for exactly this reason — not because there is anything magical about cards, but because they force a retrieval attempt before showing the answer. A well-designed app does the same: presents the problem before offering any answer option.

Short sessions, every day

Five focused minutes every day beats 40 minutes on Sunday. Memory consolidation happens between sessions — during rest and sleep — so spreading practice across days is more efficient than concentrating it into one long block. The consistent schedule matters more than the total minutes.

Tiger Math’s multiplication section is built around this: short daily sessions, retrieval-first question types (fill-in-the-blank before multiple choice), and a challenge mode for timed practice once the facts are basically secure. The daily goals system encourages the consistent short sessions that memory research supports.

Times tables are learnable by every child. The ones who struggle longest are usually those taught with the wrong approach, not those who lack ability. Patterns first, retrieval practice, short daily sessions — the facts that currently seem impossible become automatic faster than you expect.

Sources & Further Reading

1. Roediger, H.L. & Karpicke, J.D. (2006). “Test-Enhanced Learning: Taking Memory Tests Improves Long-Term Retention.” Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255.
2. Cepeda, N.J. et al. (2006). “Distributed Practice in Verbal Recall Tasks: A Review and Quantitative Synthesis.” Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380.
3. Dunlosky, J. et al. (2013). “Improving Students’ Learning with Effective Learning Techniques.” Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. (Rated practice testing “high utility” — one of only two techniques to earn that designation out of ten studied.)
4. Cepeda, N.J. et al. (2008). “Spacing Effects in Learning: A Temporal Ridgeline of Optimal Retention.” Psychological Science, 19(11), 1095–1102.