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How can I help my child with times tables?
You don't need to be a math teacher to help your child learn times tables. What research says about effective practice is simple to follow without any special knowledge, and the most useful thing a parent can do doesn't involve teaching at all.
What the research says
The most useful thing a parent can do with times tables isn’t teaching: it’s creating the conditions for memorizing to happen. Ophuis-Cox and colleagues’ classroom study showed that practicing with flashcards clearly beat chanting the tables. And the method is simple enough for anyone, not just teachers, to follow consistently.
Research on game-based training found that short, structured sessions produced measurable gains when they included recall, spacing over time and feedback. None of this requires any math expertise.
What this means in practice
You don’t need to know the times tables perfectly yourself to help your child learn them. You need to ask questions, listen to the answers, and tell them right away when they’re wrong.
Try this
- Sit with your child while they practice. Your presence keeps them motivated and lets you notice when they hesitate.
- Don’t help with the answer. Waiting while they try to remember, even when they get it wrong, is exactly the point.
- Keep it simple: ask, wait, confirm or correct, move on. The simplicity is on purpose.
Sources
- Ophuis-Cox et al. (2023) — peer-reviewed study
- Jay et al. (2019) — peer-reviewed study
Last reviewed: 2026-08-01