I've been beating my head on the floor trying to figure out how to get some of my kids to learn their multiplication facts. It's not productive to try to get them to learn these complex methods if they're still burning up their paper drawing tick marks for 4 x 8. I don't fault them, but there is a place for "Drill and Kill". Drill the skill and you won't Kill yourself trying to get them to learn it later.
Suddenly it hit me. I learned most of my fact via School House Rocks. Yeah, it's old school and it's not flashy. So many of my kids will say it's childish. I'm sure I'll get a call from a mom or two going off on me by challenging their dears with this. All that's true, but I'm confident that they'll learn the tables after a week and if nothing else they'll learn the ideas and want to make sure they don't have to keep listening to these "uncool" songs.
If you're reading this 4th grade get ready to meet SHR!
