The Barley Lane
Primary School
guide to helping your
child at home with
multiplication.
Children will start to learn their times tables in Year 1 starting with 2’s and 10’s.
More will be learnt as they move up through each year of the school. As well as learning tables by
heart we teach children to count in steps e.g. 2….4….6….8 and know the division fact that goes with
each table fact:
If 3 x 4 is 12 then I also know that 12 ÷ 4 is 3 and 12 ÷ 3 is 4.
Arrays
The first step when recording multiplication is using and array which is where the children draw out
‘lots of’ a number.
5 x 3 = 15
3 x 5 = 15
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Repeated Addition
Another early method that is used is, repeated addition, this is where children use adding skills to
multiply.
4 x 5 is the same as 5 + 5 + 5 + 5
This can also be shown on a number line:
+5
0
+5
5
+5
10
+5
15
20
Partitioning
Children will start this method in Year 3 as stepping stone to the grid method.
Children break down the 2 digit number into tens and units and recombine to get their final answer.
23 x 4 = 92
20 x 4 = 80
3 x 4 = 12
80 + 12 = 92
Grid Method
This is a written method that is taught from Year 4 onwards.
X
20
4
10
200 (20 x 10)
40 (4 x 10)
200 + 40 = 240
240 + 168 = 408
7
140 (20 x 7)
28 (4 x 7)
140 + 28 = 168
Formal or long multiplication
This method is not taught until Year 6 where children are given the choice to use this or the grid
method when multiplying 3 and 4 digit numbers and decimals. We encourage them to use the method
that best suits them.
5
X 1
1
6
1 0
5 0
6 7
6
2
2
0
0
0
2
This longer
method will be
taught as a
stepping stone
before children
start carrying.
5
X 1
1 1
5 6
6 7
6
2
2
0
2
Throughout this booklet we have used bold print to highlight words that we feel is important for you
to know. These are the words that are used in school and that your child will be familiar with. We
feel that it is vital that work carried out at school is continued at home and hope that the following
definitions help you to do this.
Array
Division fact
Find the product of
Groups of
Lots of
Multiply
Times
Grid method
Number line
Partition
Recombine
Repeated addition
Dots or drawings are used to arrange numbers in
groups.
The facts that you can work out from your times
tables so if you know 4 x 5 is 20 you also know that 20
÷ 5 is 4 and 20 ÷ 4 is 5.
These are all different ways of saying multiplication.
A written method of multiplying that involves
partitioning the numbers into tens and units before
they are multiplied and added up again.
A blank line that children can use to record repeated
addition.
Splitting numbers according to their place value so 132
the 2 is worth 2 units, the 3 is worth 30 and the 1 is
worth 100.
After partitioning the numbers are added together
again to get the final answer.
Multiplying using adding so 3 x 2 can be worked out by
doing 2 + 2 + 2
If you have any questions about this booklet or require further support please contact.
Mr Bryant