Ask any parent of a student in fourth grade and above how their child is doing in math. If the parent says that their child is struggling in math it is most likely because they never mastered the addition, subtraction and multiplication facts. MATH BECOMES EXTREMELY CHALLENGING WHEN STUDENTS DO NOT HAVE A SOLID FOUNDATION IN MATH AND THAT BEGINS WITH MASTERING THE ADDING AND SUBTRACTING FACTS.
Ask any teacher in fourth grade and above what their greatest challenge is in teaching math. They will tell you that it is that their students do not know the basic math facts. I have had high school math teachers tell me the same thing. If math is challenging now, it will only get more challenging and frustrating as your child moves on from grade to grade. A student can slide by through third grade without mastering the facts, even though they will be frustrated and feel themselves falling behind, but starting in fourth grade math will become more and more difficult to keep up with as students are expected to apply the math facts to multi-step math concepts.
