MathGrade 4ages 9–10
🧮 Two-digit times
A child who solves 12 × 3 by multiplying only the 2 and ignoring the 1, or by sticking digits together, hasn't yet learned to split a two-digit number into its tens and ones before multiplying each part.
Try this lesson freeNo card needed. The first lesson is free.
Download on the App StoreWhat your child learns
- A two-digit number can be split into tens and ones.
- Multiply each part on its own, then add the two results.
- Twelve is ten and two, so it comes out 30 and 6.
- Whole tens are easy: two tens times four is eight tens.
The mistake most kids make here
Multiplying only one digit, or sticking the digits together.
Try one question
How much is 12 times 3?
12 × 3
- 15
- 36
- 123
Answer
36 — Yes. Thirty and six is 36.
How Maya teaches it
Your child tells Maya what they did in class. She teaches this topic at her desk, asks questions with tappable answers, and when the answer is wrong she explains why that answer was tempting instead of saying “try again”. She remembers what did not land and comes back to it.
Your child has it when they can: How much is 12 times 3, through the split?
How to help at home
Splitting a number into parts before multiplying is a new strategy, and it's easy to skip the split step and just grab the digit that looks most familiar to work with.
Write 12 as "10 and 2" on paper, physically separated. For 12 × 3, work out 10 × 3 = 30 and 2 × 3 = 6 as two separate small problems, then add them: 36. Doing this with real objects — ten single blocks bundled as a ten, plus two loose ones, times three sets — makes the split visible.
If your child multiplies only the ones digit, ask: "what happened to the ten part of twelve — did we multiply that too?" Pointing back at the split written on paper usually catches the missing piece.
A sign they've got it: given a new two-digit number like 23, they split it into 20 and 3 on their own before multiplying, without being prompted to split it first.
Questions parents ask
- Why does my child only multiply one digit in a two-digit number?
- Splitting a number into tens and ones before multiplying is a strategy that needs to be taught explicitly — without it, a child may default to working with just the digit that's easiest to grab, usually the ones digit.
- What does splitting 12 into tens and ones look like?
- 12 becomes 10 and 2, written or shown separately. Multiplying each part on its own (10 × 3 = 30, 2 × 3 = 6) and then adding the results (36) is easier than multiplying the whole two-digit number at once.
- Are whole-ten multiplications easier to teach first?
- Yes — practicing something like 20 × 4 = 80 first, where only the tens are involved, builds confidence before mixing in a ones digit that also needs multiplying.
- How does Maya teach two-digit multiplication?
- Maya has the child physically split the number into tens and ones before multiplying each part, so both pieces of a two-digit number get multiplied, not just the one that looks familiar.
No card needed. The first lesson is free.
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