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How many minutes a day should my child practice times tables?
Five minutes a day sounds like very little. It is, and that's the point. Practice frequency is one of the most solid findings in educational psychology.
What the research says
A study that compared different practice schedules specifically for times tables, having people learn unfamiliar multiplication facts on different schedules, found that practicing every day worked better than any other frequency, including every other day and twice a week, with the same total time.
The mechanism is well known: every time you recall an answer, the memory gets stronger, and the benefit is greatest when you recall it just before it fades. Daily practice hits that moment consistently. With longer gaps, more is forgotten between sessions, and time goes into catching up instead of building.
What this means in practice
Five minutes every day is worth more than thirty minutes once a week. It sounds odd, because it feels like less, but research has confirmed it for decades and at every age.
Try this
- Stop at 5 minutes. Quitting before tiredness sets in keeps them keen for next time.
- If you miss a day, don’t make up for it with a longer session the next day. Just pick up the usual routine.
- Tie practice to something you already do every day: breakfast, the drive to school, bedtime.
Sources
- Mawson & Kang (2025) — meta-analysis
Last reviewed: 2026-08-01