Learn them in the right order
Don't go 1 to 12 in order. Teach the easy, high-coverage tables first , 2s, 10s, 5s, then 4s (double the 2s), then 3s, then squares. By then most of the grid is covered and only a handful of 'tricky' facts (like 7×8) remain.
9 tricks that help
- 2s: just double it.
- 4s: double, then double again.
- 5s: count in fives, or take half of the 10s.
- 9s: the digits of the answer add to 9 (9×4 = 36, 3+6 = 9).
- 10s: add a zero.
- 11s (to 9): repeat the digit (11×6 = 66).
- Squares: learn 1×1 up to 12×12 as their own special set.
- Commutativity: 7×8 is the same as 8×7 , you only have to learn each fact once.
- The 'last few': isolate the 6,8 facts kids miss most and over-practise just those.
Practise little and often
Three to five minutes a day beats a long weekly session. Mix recall (say the answer) with writing it, and always circle back to the specific facts a child keeps missing rather than re-drilling the ones they know.