“Math stinks.” This has been said by at least one student in every American math class. Mathematics is one of the key subjects many students struggle with every school year. It’s a mandatory subject for all grade levels.

A student begins with learning the basics, what numbers are, the order they go in and how to count backwards for fun, and then the hard part comes. The love of multiplication tables.

In Georgia it is now highly recommended that by the third grade a student is able to quickly answer random multiplication tables when asked.

An array of students can not simply memorize the facts. With that being said, plenty of students breeze through each grade without knowing their multiplication tables. Not just students, but some move into adulthood trying to leave the crucial skill behind.  

Calculators have become a crutch to society. They’re everywhere: on our phones, watches. Even Siri can solve equations. Harvard Calculus professor Bill Williams told Teen Image, a Los Angeles magazine, he doesn’t let his students use calculators because there’s a way to solve everything by hand. It may take longer, but it’s all worth it.

Flowery Branch senior Quentasia Hancock told Young Edge, “If you don’t learn the basics like multiplication and division at an early age, it is so hard to move onto the harder subjects in math. Math is like a huge building block. The things learned in math as a child never go away; it just keeps building on top each year.”

Pediatricians around the world have suggested before bed letting a child play one multiplication game on a smartphone or tablet. Not only does this help further the skill of math, but it improves a child’s abilities in technology. The brain tends to remember the skills done before bed more than the skills done throughout the day. Our world is moving fast, but not too fast to slow down and learn the fundamentals.

Students learn in so many different ways. Visual minds grab concepts easily by sight and pictures. Audio learners learn well by lectures and videos.

In order to enhance audio learning, musicians took a different approach to things. All over Youtube are an array of teachers making up beat tempo rap songs to help students remember multiplication tables. It may sound silly, but elementary school teacher Emily Hayes told Young Edge, “The impact the songs have on students is absolutely amazing! My testing results went up 58 percent on our weekly times table quizzes after listening to our favorite mix of the song once a day.”

Young or old, it doesn’t matter. Math isn’t dead, and learning times tables will never go away.