My child's times tables got rusty over fall break. How do we get them back?

If your child's times tables feel shaky after fall break, the good news is that most of what they knew is still there. A week or two without use makes facts slower, not gone. The way back is a short, calm first week: find the few facts that actually slipped, work on those for a few minutes a day, and leave everything else alone.

Why it feels worse than it is

The first day back, you ask 7 × 8 and get a long pause. It's easy to hear that pause and think the whole table is lost. Usually it isn't. A handful of facts went quiet, and the pause on those makes everything feel shaky.

That matters, because it changes the plan. If the whole table were gone, you'd start over. Since it's only a few facts, starting over wastes time on what your child still knows and can make them feel further behind than they are.

Day one: find out what actually slipped

Before any practice, take a quick, friendly look. Go through the tables your child knew before the break, a few facts from each, one at a time. No correcting, no comment. You're only listening.

Sort what you hear into two groups:

• facts that came right away, which are still solid
• facts that needed counting, guessing, or a long pause, which are the ones that slipped

Write the second group on a scrap of paper. For most children it's a short list. That list is the whole week's work.

The rest of the week: a few minutes a day

Each day, pick two or three facts from the list. That's all. Ask each one in the morning, out loud, and have your child say the whole fact back: "Eight sevens are fifty-six."

Ask the shaky ones again later the same day

A fact asked once in the morning can fade again by evening. So ask the same two or three again later: after school, in the car, while setting the table. Getting a fact right a second time, a few hours after the first, is what helps it hold.

If one comes back quickly both times on two days in a row, cross it off and add the next fact from the list.

Don't re-teach what they still know

It's tempting to "review everything" to be safe. But going back over facts that came right away on day one mostly tells your child they're behind. It also uses up the few minutes you have. Leave the solid facts out this week. You can mix one in now and then as an easy win, but don't make them part of the work.

Keep it short and calm

A few minutes a day is enough for this. The first week back is already full: new routines, tired evenings, homework starting again. Short practice that ends on a right answer fits that week better than a long catch-up session on the weekend.

If a day gets skipped, just pick up where you left off. Nothing is lost in a day.

How you'll know they're back

By the end of the week, the list on that scrap of paper should be short or empty. Try a few facts from the day-one check again. When the ones that slipped come back as quickly as the ones that never did, your child is caught up, and practice can go back to whatever you were doing before the break.

A calm way to practice

For a few minutes a day with single facts, try Flash Cards for free.

Once the facts are back, this post shows how to keep them from slipping again: How do I keep times tables from going rusty again after they come back?. Try Flash Cards for free.