This article points out that young people need practice in math in order to develop fluency. It is not enough to be able to figure out that 6×8 is 48 (although that is a good place to start). Owning those math facts completely makes all higher level math dramatically easier. The same is true all the way up.
This article focuses on girls, but ends with the line: “the same applies to your son.”
The article argues that the emphasis on making learning fun is a mistake. I disagree. I don’t see why learning math facts can’t be fun. It won’t be as addictive as fortnite, but it can be fun. I do agree that if you can’t make math fun, you should still get your children to practice it.
Car time is a great time to practice math facts.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/07/opinion/stem-girls-math-practice.html
Thank you Oliver Meldrum for bringing this to my attention.