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How do I know if my child has really memorized a times table?
Telling whether a fact is memorized or worked out isn't always easy: children can get the right answer either way. But the difference matters, because only memory holds up under the pressure of a timed test.
What the research says
Research on automaticity, the point where a fact is memorized rather than worked out, suggests that real recall happens in about 1 second. Anything slower involves at least some calculating or reconstructing.
Dehaene & Cohen’s work on verbal memory supports this: automatic recall of a verbal memory, times tables included, happens without thinking it through. It feels like “I just know it,” not “I worked it out.”
What this means in practice
Speed is the honest test. A child who takes 3 seconds to give the right answer knows how to work it out, but hasn’t memorized it. Both are useful, but only memory holds up under time pressure.
Try this
- Ask a random fact and watch. Under a second: memorized. 1 to 3 seconds: nearly there. More than 3 seconds: still working it out.
- Don’t ask in order: reciting the table can hide the fact that a single answer isn’t remembered yet.
- Repeat this test now and then on “learned” tables too. If the memory has faded, the answers come more slowly.
- To check every table at once, use the blank multiplication chart: the squares your child leaves empty, or fills in slowly, are the ones to practice.
Sources
- Dehaene & Cohen (1997) — peer-reviewed study
Last reviewed: 2026-08-01