Math Facts fluency is really a "Procedural Fluency", which is a critical component of mathematical proficiency. Procedural fluency is the ability to apply procedures accurately, efficiently, and flexibly; to transfer procedures to different problems and contexts; to build or modify procedures from other procedures; and to recognize when one strategy or procedure is more appropriate to apply than another.
IN OTHER WORDS:
Students beneift from not just memorizing the math facts, but UNDERSTANDING them in a way that allows them to use the facts in multiple contexts
Math facts fluency leads to higher order mathematics
Through automaticity students free up their working memory and can devote it to problem solving and learning new concepts and skills (Geary, 1994). Quite simply, a lack of fluency in basic math fact recall significantly hinders a child’s subsequent progress with problem-solving, algebra and higher-order math concept. When students achieve automaticity with these facts, they have attained a level of mastery that enables them to retrieve them for long-term memory without conscious effort or attention.
Fluent math facts mean less confusion
Math facts are important because they form the building blocks for higher-level math concepts. When a child masters his/her math facts, these concepts will be significantly easier and the student will be better equipped to solve them faster. If the child spends a lot of time doing the basic facts, he/she is more likely to be confused with the processes and get lost in their calculations.
Ways to help at home
Kakooma (Free for iPad and Web)
Developed by Greg Tang. Kakooma provides an alternative way to
practice math facts. There is an app for all operations and negative
numbers.
Do you love the challenge of a great puzzle? KAKOOMA® is the quick thinking,
brain-building app that is getting kids and adults of all ages
hooked on numbers; it is deceptively simple: from a group of numbers,
find one number that is the sum of two others
The Product and Factor Games are fun, interactive games that exercise
your skills with factors and multiples.
Product Game
Factor Game
24 Game (Free for iPad)
The 24 Game is a math puzzle game for all ages who wants to exercise or
improve their quick thinking and mental math.
The goal of the game is to combine 4 numbers into 1 number, equal to 24
by adding, subtracting, and multiplying.
