“Why was the math book sad? ….. Because it had so many problems...”
A math teacher that I once knew had a sign by his desk that said “Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.” Many, many students struggle to learn their math facts fluently. And as we all know, being able to quickly add, subtract, multiply and divide is an important stepping stone to success in more advanced math concepts as well as in the real world. I’ll be the first to admit that I rely on a calculator more than I should (that’s definitely mistake free math, right?), but I also believe that it is important for students to develop math fact fluency.
Many children, parents, and teachers spend countless hours practicing math facts- but rather than practice perfect math, students are often rehearsing their own incorrect math fact beliefs. For example, if when practicing with flash cards a child consistently thinks to themselves 7x8=65, they are actually practicing the incorrect answer.
I would like to suggest trying “Errorless Learning” to help students practice their math facts perfectly. The idea behind the errorless learning strategy is to set students up for success by helping them practice the correct answers to their math facts. This can be practiced by writing the math facts with their answers across the top of a standard math fact fluency quiz paper. Your child’s goal will still be to complete the math facts as quickly as he can, but your child will have the correct answers to refer to. For example, since your child can look at the correct answer, instead of drilling 7x8=65 he will practice that 7x8=56. This not only decreases frustration for a child who is struggling, but helps your child to repeatedly recite to themselves the correct answers to the math fact. With perfect practice, your child can become fluent with his math facts.