Methods of Multiplication for the Mind

I remember learning multiplication in 3rd and 4th grade and having to do those dreaded time tables! Then, after time tables. we had to move on to two digit number multiplication! I remember only learning one way to do multiplication tables and that was the old fashioned long way of multiplying. Like you just saw in the video, this is the method I believe most of us learned, but I'm going to talk about other ways to multiply double digit numbers!

Here is a problem solved in the standard way:

Now there are many ways to solve this and not use the standard method! 

First there is a method called the Lattice Method of Multiplication. After learning more about this method, I realized that this is a very easy method to catch on to and teach! Learn how to do it in this short video! The Lattice Method I wish that I would have been exposed to this method as an elementary student! I believe that this method is simple and easy to understand! It is also a method you could use to help you check your answers and make sure they are correct!

Another method I believe is pretty cool, but a little more complicated to me, is the Russian Peasant Method of Multiplication. This method I believe takes more work than it should. If you don't know what I am talking about here is a short video example -> Russian Method. I think this method takes more thinking than need and I also believe it is more time consuming!

Overall, there are more methods for multiplying, but here are a few you might not have known about! Teaching and learning multiple ways to do a single math problem is important because you might not know what works best for you!