Met Mark, the owner of Maestro’s Teaching Tools in Boulder. I will be presenting a workshop for parents on March 15 at 11 am. For more information, please look under EVENTS at www.TwoPlusTwoIsNotFive.com.
The workshop will include some strategies to help children remember multiplication, addition, and subtraction facts. I will also cover the important things to check for before asking children to memorize math facts. Some prerequisites for example include:
Can the child count to at least 20 for addition and subtraction?
Is the child able to identify what the numeral is, and what it means? (4 means four items-4 dogs, 4 children, 4 dots)
To add: Can the child show with counters or a drawing on paper that 5+3 means five objects and three objects is a total of eight items?
To subtract: Can the student show the 11-4 means there are eleven items and four are taken away to leave seven?
To multiply: Can the student show that 4×6 means that there are four groups and each group has six items in it for a total of 24?
I will also show parents how they can determine which math facts their child already knows, meaning, answered without having to count to get an answer, and how to set up a routine to teach them new facts and reviewing the known facts periodically.

