Times tables (tafels) in groep 4 and 5: the Dutch way versus the Indian way

Nothing shows the difference between Indian and Dutch primary maths as clearly as the times tables. Indian children arrive in groep 4 or 5 knowing them to 15 or 20 by heart and are surprised to find that this does not count for as much as they expected. Dutch children learn fewer tables, later, and are asked something Indian children have never been asked: to explain how they know. This post sets out what the Dutch school expects, what the Dutch method actually teaches, and how to get the best of both at home.

What the Dutch school expects, and when

• Groep 3 (age 6): no tables. Counting in twos, fives and tens, and the idea of "groups of".
• Groep 4 (age 7): the tables of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10, usually in that order, built up through the year. Understanding first, then speed.
• Groep 5 (age 8): the tables of 6, 7, 8 and 9, then all tables to 10 automatised, and the matching division facts (deeltafels). Most schools work towards a tafeldiploma by the end of groep 5.
• Groep 6 onwards: tables are assumed. Long multiplication and division in columns build on them.

Tables of 11 and 12 are not taught. Tables to 20 are not taught. A Dutch teacher will be pleased that your child knows them and will not test them.

Speed matters: "automatiseren" means answering a table fact without working it out, and schools test it with timed tafeltoetsen, often expecting an answer within about three seconds.

What the Dutch method teaches instead of rote

The Dutch approach, in the methods most schools use (Pluspunt, Wereld in Getallen, Getal & Ruimte later), builds each table from strategies before it expects recall. The strategies have names, and children are expected to use the names.

• Verdubbelen (doubling): the table of 4 is the table of 2 doubled; the table of 8 is the table of 4 doubled.
• Halveren (halving): the table of 5 is the table of 10 halved.
• Omkeren (turning around): 7 × 3 is the same as 3 × 7, so a hard fact becomes an easy one.
• Eén keer meer, één keer minder (one more, one less): 6 × 7 is 5 × 7 plus one more 7; 9 × 6 is 10 × 6 minus one 6.
• Via een steunsom (via an anchor fact): from 5 × 8 = 40 to 6 × 8 and 7 × 8.

The point of all this is not that Dutch schools dislike memory. It is that they want the child to be able to rebuild any fact they forget, to see the structure (which is what makes long multiplication and, later, algebra make sense), and to explain their thinking, because explaining is what the tests ask for.

Why a child who knows every table can still be marked down

Three reasons, and we see all three with newly arrived children.

The question asks for the strategy. "Reken uit en leg uit hoe je het weet" (work it out and explain how you know). A child who writes 56 and nothing else has answered half the question. The expected answer is 56, plus "7 × 8: ik weet 7 × 4 = 28, verdubbelen is 56" or any other named route.

The test is a word problem. "Er staan 8 dozen met 7 flessen. Hoeveel flessen?" The table fact is trivial; finding it inside the Dutch sentence is the skill being tested.

The layout is different. Dutch schools write and read table facts in a fixed way, and use a tafelkaart (a table chart) and the number line as tools. A child who uses the Indian columns and no tools is doing the maths right and showing the wrong thing.

None of these is a maths problem. All three cost marks and confidence until they are fixed, and they are fixed in a few sessions once you know they exist.

How to combine both at home

Keep the Indian strength. Fluency to 12 or 15, with the division facts, is a real advantage in groep 6 and 7 when long multiplication, fractions and percentages arrive, and there is no reason to let it fade. Five minutes of mixed recall a day keeps it.

Add the Dutch language of strategy. Take one table a week and ask the child to show you two different ways to get each fact, using the Dutch names. "Hoe weet je dat?" at the dinner table is a game, and it is exactly what the teacher will ask.

Practise the facts inside Dutch sentences. Ten short word problems a week, in Dutch, with the maths vocabulary written next to them the first few times: keer (times), gedeeld door (divided by), elk (each), in totaal (in total), hoeveel (how many). The maths is done in a second; the reading is the practice.

Use the school's tools. Ask which method the school uses and whether it uses an app (Rekentuin, Squla and the methods' own apps are common). Ten minutes on the same app the class uses does more for the tafeltoets than an hour on an Indian worksheet, because the format matches.

Do not turn it into pressure. Dutch schools deliberately keep groep 4 and 5 light, and a child who is drilled at home for an hour a night while classmates play will resent the maths by groep 6. Little and often, with the strategies as a game, is what works.

What we do in class

For children in groep 4 and 5 our weekly class does three things with tables: keeps the recall fluent to 12, teaches the Dutch strategies and their names so the child can explain any fact the Dutch way, and works through Dutch-style table word problems with the vocabulary alongside. From groep 5 we add the division facts and the Dutch column layout so that groep 6 starts from strength. It takes a few weeks for a child to stop losing marks on facts they already know, and it is one of the quickest wins we see.

The free placement takes 30 minutes and tells you exactly which of the three reasons above applies to your child.

Questions parents ask

See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →