The order the UK curriculum uses
The National Curriculum spreads times tables across three years, in this order:
- Year 2 (ages 6–7): 2×, 5×, 10×.
- Year 3 (ages 7–8): 3×, 4×, 8×.
- Year 4 (ages 8–9): 6×, 7×, 9×, 11×, 12× — and full 12×12 recall by June, ready for the MTC.
Teach in that order. Trying to cover 7× before 5× is fluent is a common home-schooling mistake — the harder tables lean on the easier ones (7×6 becomes '7×5 add 7', so 5× has to be automatic first).
The mistake to avoid: chanting
Chanting builds order-dependent memory. Kids can recite the 7× table forwards but freeze when asked "what's 7 × 6?" out of the blue. It's the difference between reading a poem you memorised and being asked to define a word from the middle of it. Randomised recall — the format MathStar and the MTC both use — trains the retrieval path teachers, and secondary maths, actually want.
A 10-minute daily routine
- 1 minute — warm-up on last week's table. Cements what's still fresh.
- 5 minutes — target table. This week's focus, random order, timed.
- 3 minutes — mixed practice. All tables the child has met so far, random order.
- 1 minute — win-lap. The child picks their strongest table and blasts through it. Ends on confidence.
A 12-week timetable for full 12×12
- Weeks 1–3: 2×, 5×, 10× — one week each.
- Weeks 4–6: 3×, 4×, 8× — one week each.
- Weeks 7–9: 6×, 7×, 9× — one week each.
- Weeks 10–11: 11×, 12×.
- Week 12: Mixed random-recall drills only. This is where fluency locks in.
Tricks that actually help
- 5× ends in 0 or 5. Odd input → 5; even input → 0.
- 9× fingers trick. Hold up 10 fingers. For 9×n, put down the nth finger. Fingers to the left are tens; fingers to the right are ones.
- Any square number can be derived. 7×7 = 7×5 (35) + 7×2 (14) = 49. Teach this once and stubborn facts become derivable.
- Doubling. 4× is double 2×. 8× is double 4×. Once 2× is fluent, half the grid falls out.
How to know when a table is 'done'
The child answers any random fact from that table, in isolation, within 3 seconds — for five days in a row. Not once. Not on a good day. Consistently. That's when it's safe to move on.