Is there any point to the 12 times table?
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Is there any point to the 12 times table?
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Re: Is there any point to the 12 times table?
#2Forget the stats and calculus. Think carpentry, measuring and cutting wood products. If you are building things in the US/UK/Canada then you are using feet and inches. 12 inches to a foot. It's a tiny thing to learn and will serve kids well in any number of professions.
Now 11, that's a total mystery. Other than it being between 10 and 12, I see no reason to memorize 11s.
Re: Is there any point to the 12 times table?
#3I recently worked with a person who had to do her three times table using her hands, starting from 3. She would still struggle at about 6 or 7 times.
We worked behind the counter in a builder's merchant. She is no longer working for us.
Re: Is there any point to the 12 times table?
#4>Or, as Chris Carlson suggested to me, learn the near reciprocals of 100 (2 x 50 = 100, 3 x 33 = 99, 4 x 25 = 100, 5 x 20 = 100, 6 x 17 = 102, etc.), as they come up a lot.
This is absolutely worthwhile, easy approximation of 1 or 100 divided by 6 or 8 in particular occurs regularly, and not enough people know it offhand. Hugely helpful. After 1-10, your energy is probably better spent on cool patterns and "tricks" within those sets (final digits of 9, division by 7, etc.); much greater return.
Re: Is there any point to the 12 times table?
#5They should probably learn HEX at age 9
Re: Is there any point to the 12 times table?
#6Forget the stats and calculus. Think carpentry, measuring and cutting wood products. If you are building things in the US/UK/Canada then you are using feet and inches. 12 inches to a foot. It's a tiny thing to learn and will serve kids well in any number of professions. Now 11, that's a total mystery. Other than it being between 10 and 12, I see no reason to memorize 11s.
I remember that memorizing the 11 column was trivial and fun, up to times 10 anyway.
Re: Is there any point to the 12 times table?
#7Forget the stats and calculus. Think carpentry, measuring and cutting wood products. If you are building things in the US/UK/Canada then you are using feet and inches. 12 inches to a foot. It's a tiny thing to learn and will serve kids well in any number of professions. Now 11, that's a total mystery. Other than it being between 10 and 12, I see no reason to memorize 11s.
11s are practically free, though, in base 10. The algorithm "repeat the non 11 number twice" works up till 10 x 11, where the "add a 0" algorithm for 10 kicks in. So you're just really memorizing 11 x 11 = 121 and 11 x 12 = 132.
Re: Is there any point to the 12 times table?
#8Forget the stats and calculus. Think carpentry, measuring and cutting wood products. If you are building things in the US/UK/Canada then you are using feet and inches. 12 inches to a foot. It's a tiny thing to learn and will serve kids well in any number of professions. Now 11, that's a total mystery. Other than it being between 10 and 12, I see no reason to memorize 11s.
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Re: Is there any point to the 12 times table?
#9he got off lucky. back in India, we had to cram tables upto 20.
Re: Is there any point to the 12 times table?
#10Forget the stats and calculus. Think carpentry, measuring and cutting wood products. If you are building things in the US/UK/Canada then you are using feet and inches. 12 inches to a foot. It's a tiny thing to learn and will serve kids well in any number of professions. Now 11, that's a total mystery. Other than it being between 10 and 12, I see no reason to memorize 11s.
That is only yet another reason in literally infinite ones why the US needs to actually push metric units. We bleed our stupidity into the UK and Canada while the rest of the world makes sense.