Quick! What's 7 times 8?

I still have to pause to thing about that one. But consider this. Look at the counting numbers 5, 6, 7 and 8.

What numbers come before 7 and 8 (or 7 times 8)? That's right! 5 and 6, or 56. So 7 times 8 is 56. Now there is a quick memory jogger to carve that math fact into the brain.

Arthur Bornstein has memorizer kits for lots of things: addition and subtraction, spelling, states and capitals and multiplication. I love this multiplication kit! Each fact has a little story to go with it and they really help you to remember!

Students can learn their facts up to 12 x 12 in just a few hours! He recommends that you cover as many cards as you feel would be appropriate, then review them within 24 hours, then do a regular review thereafter.

Let's take a look at a few of these. For 9 x 5, we picture a football field with a team number 9 against a team number 5 playing on the 45 yard line. The cute accompanying visual makes this an easily memorable fact.

How about some of the tougher facts? For 12 x 9, we picture a magician with a number 12 on his hat, holding a lolly-pop which looks like a 9 saying, "I can make 108 lolly-pops appear" Got it?

The kit consists of 54 cards, a study guide, plus teacher and student audiotapes.

My daughter has a learning disability and I resigned myself to the fact that she might never learn her times tables. We've been using these cards and she is making great progress! If you are having any struggles at all in the area, this is the one product you should buy.



--Product Review by: Christine Field, Senior Correspondent, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine