Times table flash cards

How to use flash cards well

• Say it before you flip. Pulling the answer out of memory is what makes it stick (retrieval practice). Looking at the answer first feels easier but teaches much less.
• Be honest with “Knew it”. Only if the answer came quickly and was right. A slow or shaky answer is a “Missed it”: that card comes back sooner, which is exactly what you want.
• Small sets, little and often. 12 cards in five minutes a day beats a big pile once a week. Spacing practice out over days is one of the best-tested ways to remember anything.
• Go back to the misses. The set-complete screen lists the facts you missed, with a link to each table’s tips. A trick (“6 × 8: double 6 × 4”) turns a guess into a method.
• Turn it around. 7 × 8 and 8 × 7 are the same fact, and the 56 card also gives you 56 ÷ 7 and 56 ÷ 8. Once × is solid, switch to Mixed.
• Practice with someone. One person holds the printed card up, question facing the learner; the answer and the whole fact are on the side the holder sees.

A suggested learning order

1. The 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s: doubling, counting in fives and adding a zero. Together they cover more than a third of the chart.
2. 3s, 4s and 6s: the 4s are the 2s doubled and the 6s are the 3s doubled.
3. 7s, 8s and 9s: most of these you already know the other way round; only a handful are new (7 × 7, 7 × 8, 8 × 8…).
4. 11s and 12s: the 11s repeat the digit up to 99, and 12 is 10 plus 2.
5. 13 and up: split into tens and ones (13 × 7 = 70 + 21). Use the “+ 13–20” and “+ 21–30” buttons above.

The printable sets follow the same order, so you can print one set, learn it, then move on.