We started two years ago telling Michael he had to learn his multiplication tables. He reluctantly started learning them. He just finished 5th grade. He should know them. I've bought him regular workbooks, special workbooks, computer games, handheld games, flashcards, even a video of someone SINGING the multiplication tables and does he know them?! No. Not entirely.
I took Alesia to therapy today and while I was gone I told Michael to work on some workbook pages with Granny. When I cam back, she told me they spent a lot of time on ONE long division problem, which he screwed up because he didn't know his multiplication tables. At one point he refused to do what she asked him to do. She was furious. I got irritated, to say the least.
At lunch, Mother and I took turns trying to explain to him about the multiplication tables being the building blocks for long division, how he has to know them to do well in school, etc. He sat there stone-faced.
I took Michael upstairs to my room after lunch and told him we were going to work on multiplication tables. I used flashcards. We tried repeating. We tried writing. I tried singing little songs about multiplication. I was very calm, and tried to make the whole thing like a game.
After less than 30 minutes, he informed me he couldn't remember any more and he would never know them.
"I can't remember!" he wailed, like a baby.
I gritted my teeth and said quietly, "Michael, you know them all except these 14. You need to study those. You can't watch TV until you know them."
"What?!" he exclaimed.
"Michael, I have tried everything I know to do. I've bought games, books, workbooks, flashcards, you name it. Granny has tried, Alesia has tried, I have tried - we've all tried to help you. You simply HAVE to learn these, now."
"I can't! I can't remember!" he pouted.
"OK, since you have that attitude, then no pool and no Nintendo, until you learn these final 14 multiplication facts."
He pouted. He sulked. He curled up in his laundry basket and read a wrestling magazine.
At one point he went outside and was beating a stick on the ground so hard I heard it in my room.
Finally, he came back to my room and we worked on some more multiplication facts. He still can't remember all of them. I'm offering incentives, though - internet computer time, and even viewing of a wrestling DVD from Netflix. He has to study though. He has to drill every day.
Meantime, I am trying to write a song about all the multiples of 7. Any ideas??
