These are some basic math facts. I make the analogy of these being like sight vocabulary in reading. As a child's sight vocabulary gets stronger their reading becomes more fluent. You can observe the child develop confidence. Because they are not spending unnecessary time and effort decoding, their comprehension improves and they are ready to move onto for more complex skills.

There is hope but it's not assumed that students will have these mastered upon entering fourth grade. Certainly if you look at our text will see this.

One thing I do to draw the student's attention to the importance of this area is to do regular timed testing on the facts. I have developed a rubric where the student tracks their own progress in each area. It is not unlike the SRA Reading Lab's way of tracking by use of a bar graph. A typical test has 40 facts on it. I concentrate on addition, subtraction, and multiplication.

The students are given 2 minutes to complete the test. We exchange and check papers. They convert their raw score to a percent and then graph the results.

Parents can help a great deal in this area by reviewing flash cards on a regular basis. For those families with computers and interested in games that reinforce these skills 2 programs from Gamco Educational Software are very good. They are Addition and Subtraction Defenders and On Target Multiply and Divide.