TablesWhich tables to learn in which class
Schools and boards differ, and so do children, so treat this page as a typical guide for Indian schools and not as an official syllabus. Follow what your child's school is teaching now. What matters is the order: meaning first, then the easy tables, then the harder ones, then speed and use.
Class 1: getting ready
No tables are needed yet. The ground is laid by skip counting: counting in 2s, 5s and 10s, forwards and aloud, with objects and on a number line. Grouping things in twos and fives, and seeing that 3 groups of 2 make 6, is the real beginning of multiplication.
Class 2: tables of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10
Most schools introduce the multiplication sign here and teach the first tables. Children should be able to build each table by repeated addition, say it in order and answer mixed questions slowly. The idea that 3 × 4 equals 4 × 3 should be met with objects.
Class 3: tables up to 10
The tables of 6, 7, 8 and 9 are added, and by the end of the year the aim is all facts to 10 × 10 in mixed order. Division is taught as the reverse of multiplication. This is the most important year for tables: nearly everything later in arithmetic assumes these 100 facts.
Class 4: tables up to 15 or 16, and speed
Facts to 10 × 10 should now come in about two seconds. Many schools add tables of 11 to 15 or 16. Multiplying two-digit and three-digit numbers begins, and it leans on the tables at every step.
Class 5: tables up to 20
Tables of 16 to 20 are learnt, mostly by splitting: 17 × 6 is 60 + 42. Factors, multiples, HCF and LCM start here and are table facts in new clothes.
Classes 6 to 8: tables in use
Tables are no longer taught, but they are used every day: fractions, ratio, percentages, area, algebra. Squares up to 30 and cubes up to 15 are worth knowing by heart. Tables of 21 to 30 are useful for competitive exams and mental maths, and are best learnt as methods, such as "thirty times minus one lot" for 29.
| Class | Typical target | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Skip counting in 2s, 5s, 10s | Table of 2 |
| 2 | Tables of 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 | Tables 1 to 10 |
| 3 | All tables to 10, mixed order | Practice |
| 4 | Speed to 10 × 10; tables 11 to 15 | Tables 11 to 20 |
| 5 | Tables to 20 | Table of 17 |
| 6 to 8 | Squares, cubes, tables 21 to 30 | Squares and cubes |
If your child is behind
It is common, and it is fixable. Do not start again from the table of 2 and march upwards. Use the practice page for a mixed round, note which facts were wrong or slow, and work only on those. Ten minutes a day for a month closes most gaps. Our guide on how to learn tables gives the daily plan.
If your child is ahead
Do not rush to the table of 30. Go deeper instead: squares, the 11 trick, multiplying two-digit numbers in the head, and puzzles on the multiplication chart such as "which numbers appear only once?"