Why learning times tables against the clock doesn’t work for all

Why practising tables against the clock doesn’t work for everyone

In many schools today, children practise their times tables using online games and weekly tests where the aim is to recall multiplication facts as quickly as possible. These are often designed like a race — beat the timer to move up to the next level. Many children find them fun and motivating, and teachers report positive results.

But is this approach effective for everyone? In this blog, I want to challenge the idea that speed-based times tables practice benefits all learners, consider how it affects pupils with maths-specific learning difficulties, including dyscalculia, and recommend alternatives for practising tables.

Why speed-based recall can be problematic

In many online games or worksheet quizzes, speed is everything. The faster a child can recall multiplication facts, the more rewards they earn. However, for pupils with dyscalculia or maths learning difficulties, this can be a serious issue.

Many of these learners experience working memory difficulties and slower retrieval of basic number facts. Adding a timer increases their cognitive load and anxiety, often triggering a ‘freeze’ response rather than helping them learn. For these pupils, speed pressures don’t reinforce learning: they create stress (Ganor-Stern, 2020). 

Simply memorising multiplication facts in isolation isn’t enough either. Pupils with dyscalculia often have difficulties with numerical magnitude processing (the ability to understand and compare the size of numbers). This means that while they might be able to recite ‘7 × 8 = 56’, they don’t necessarily understand why 7 times 8 makes 56 or how to apply that knowledge in other contexts (Vanbinst and De Smedt, 2020).

Without achieving fluency, these children might rely on fallback strategies like skip-counting or using their fingers. While these strategies can work in the short term, they slow pupils down in later tasks like written calculations, increasing cognitive effort and frustration (Dowker, 2019).

Another issue is that these programmes typically follow a set order of tables, assuming a one-size-fits-all progression. But for children with dyscalculia, a personalised, flexible sequence is much more effective. These learners often benefit from going back to facts they know and using those to build new facts, rather than being rushed to the next stage (Kelly, 2000).

Leaderboards and competition can be motivating for some, but for pupils with dyscalculia, comparing themselves to faster peers can deepen feelings of failure and avoidance, rather than inspiring practice (Núñez-Peña and Suárez-Pellicioni, 2022).

Children with maths-related learning difficulties or dyscalculia benefit from multi-sensory learning and the support of manipulatives. The use of online learning platforms is only digital and visual, offering no tactile opportunities that scaffold a developing sense of quantity. Without this essential learning step, the abstract symbols (e.g. “7 x 8”) remain unanchored in concrete understanding (Kelly, 2020).

What works better for dyscalculic learners

So, what are the alternatives? The good news is that there are well-researched, effective ways to help children with maths-related learning difficulties grasp times tables.

1. Use oracy throughout:

Model full explanations and number sentences aloud, and encourage children to verbalise their thinking. Talking through maths supports memory and understanding.

2. Use a CPA (concrete, pictorial, abstract) approach:

Start with hands-on resources like counters, Cuisenaire rods or Numicon. Then move to drawings (arrays, bar models) before linking to the abstract symbols (‘7 × 8 = 56’). This approach reduces cognitive load by anchoring abstract facts in visual and tactile experience (Dowker, 2019)

3. Teach through reasoning and fact families:

Rather than overwhelming children with many times table at once, start with anchor facts (1s, 2s, 5s, 10s). Use these to derive other facts. For example:

• From 5 × 7 = 35, they can deduce 7 × 5.
• From 5 × 5 = 25, they can figure out 4 × 5 by subtracting one group of 5.

This helps learners see the connections between facts, making the learning more meaningful (Vanbinst and De Smedt, 2020).

4. Use multi-sensory strategies

Times tables don’t have to live on a screen. Integrating songs, rhymes, physical actions (like jumping on number mats) or using mnemonics can help children make lasting memories by engaging multiple senses. These cross‑modal connections bolster memory by engaging auditory, visual and kinesthetic channels simultaneously  (Dowker, 2019).

5. Use a slow, steady flashcard routine.

Mix one new fact with a few already mastered ones. Keep sessions brief, daily and spaced out. This strengthens long‑term retention without overload and builds fluency gradually (Malanchini et al., 2021).

6. Apply multiplication in contexts

Meaningful, practical activities embed multiplication facts in real contexts: cooking, shopping, building with Lego, or working out distances. This makes times tables relevant and motivates learners to practise. When children see why they need each fact, motivation and transfer to novel problems both increase (Dower, 2019).

How to fit this into a busy classroom

Yes, time is tight. Yes, the curriculum is full. And no, you don’t always have extra adult support. But small tweaks can make a big difference.

• Have a ‘Table of the Day’. Display it. Refer to it often. Ask varied, meaningful questions using that fact throughout the day. This handout about the ‘table of the day’ provides more detailed guidance.
• Audit your current practice. Can you swap out some timed drills for five-minute CPA warm-ups?
• Create a Daily Fact Practice Slot. Pair children up for quick mixed flashcard sessions with facts tailored to each learner’s current stage.
• Use Mastering Number. The NCETM have a programme for Reception to Year 5 called Mastering Number. In Year 4, pupils are encouraged to ‘Go for Gold’ in which they learn – with conceptual understanding – their multiplication and division facts.

By shifting from a focus on speed to a focus on sense-making, dyscalculic learners begin to internalise not just the ‘what’ of times tables, but the ‘why’ and the ‘how’. And most importantly, they retain them for use and application in other contexts (Dowker, 2019; Malanchini et al., 2021).

References

Dowker, A. (2019) Supporting children with dyscalculia and mathematical learning difficulties, Educational and Child Psychology, 36(3), pp.119–130.

Ganor-Stern, D. (2020) The development of arithmetic processing and its association with working memory in children with and without mathematical difficulties, Journal of Numerical Cognition, 6(1), pp.1–18. https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.v6i1.217

Kelly, K. (2020) Identifying, assessing and supporting learners with dyscalculia, London: SAGE

Malanchini, M., Rimfeld, K., Shakeshaft, N.G., Trzaskowski, M., McMillan, A., Dale, P.S. and Plomin, R. (2021) Reading and mathematics equally contribute to general academic achievement: Evidence from a genetically sensitive design, Journal of Educational Psychology, 113(7), pp.1257–1268. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000533

Núñez-Peña, M.I. and Suárez-Pellicioni, M. (2022) Overcoming math anxiety in school children: what strategies work?, Current Opinion in Behavioural Sciences, 46, 101180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101180

Vanbinst, K. and De Smedt, B. (2020) Individual differences in children’s arithmetic fact development: The role of domain‐general and domain‐specific cognitive abilities, Mind, Brain, and Education, 14(1), pp.16–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12219