Wednesday, 4 February 2026

Counting, Watching. Listening

Because some of you were asking yesterday - here's the Nine Times Table Fingers Trick, I cannot find the originator of this YouTube, but it is explained very well here.

There are other Finger Tricks for times tables but personally I would not use them as I think they may confuse the children. Many school do not want children using their fingers at all as they believe it is a bad idea, and will prevent their pupils thriving in maths. But personally I love this one for the nines, and even quite young children learn it quickly and enjoy showing off to the adults. I am 70, I have a BSc in Maths, but I still count with my fingers at times. Especially when I am calculating stitches in knitting patterns!
Lots of crafting going on this week - repairs and jeans hems for friends, and my final 2x2 patch has gone off to K in the post. Once hers arrives, I will start stitching them together, and making up my sewing pouch. Pictures soon...
Have you been watching the Night Manager [season 2] ? no spoilers hereIt ended on Sunday evening, and the finale was quite harrowing.  They filmed season 1 ten years ago, and in April 2016, Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston said there would not be a season 2. Ten years later, here it is - and the writer, David Farr has already said he is working in Season 3, and promises there will not be a ten year gap this time round!
I
 have been working at the sewing machine, with earbuds in, listening to Radio 4 Extra. Specifically, one of Mark Taverner's comedy thrillers "In The Chair"- first broadcast in 1998. The two main stars are Michael Williams [Husband of Judi Dench] and Barry Foster [original VanDerValk] but the rest of the cast is superb
Hugh Laurie is Prime Minister, then there are other great actors, Rebecca Front, Richard Griffith, John Bird, Kenneth Cranham, Geoffrey Whitehead.  
Many of these brilliant people are no longer with us, but Front, Fry and Laurie continue to entertain on stage, screen and radio. Bob and I enjoys Hugh Laurie's jazz too [ HL can not only act, but also sing and play the piano!] 
I was doing my volunteer visiting at the hospital last week, and talking to a patient who said she was grateful to have a radio with her [no TVs on the ward] but found it hard to find programmes she liked. She was thrilled when I told her what she could listen to on Radio 4 Extra - Paul Temple, Tony Hancock, Dad's Army, Sherlock Holmes...
And after all, sometimes on radio, the pictures are better!


20 comments:

  1. Thank you for the 'in the chair' recommendation. BBCsounds is such a great resource.
    I'm watching for the postman every day; I posted my 2by2 on Monday so it should be with you soon...

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  2. I remember my brother teaching my daughter that. Her degree is Maths and Psychology, so it didn’t hold her back. She uses every skill and trick to get some ability in numbers into her pupils. Numberblocks on BBC is an excellent start.

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    1. Number blocks are brilliant, my younger grandchildren love them 🔢🧮

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  3. That is so great and what the teacher taught me. I really could see the "magic" in 9 times table and the number 9. I still prefer words to numbers though, I think it was being told I was useless at maths by a teacher when I was quite young. (Not the lovely one who taught me the fingers truck.) Regards Sue H

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    1. I have lost count of the people who say"when I was a child, I was told I was no good at maths"It makes me so sad

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  4. Loved Hugh Laurie in House! There are lots of good podcasts available to listen to at the moment.

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    1. There's lots of good stuff out there, in among the dross 😉

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  5. I was told by a very arrogant young Maths teacher that I was no good at Maths and he hated having our group! Needless to say as a 13 year old, I believed him. I am good at teaching primary level maths because I empathise with children who are having difficulty. Language and words will always be my first love and I am always grateful for the gift of reading that my Gran passed on to me when I was four years old. Catriona

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    1. A lovely story, I wonder if the teacher got any better....

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  6. I also was told I was useless at maths, but was still in the top class due to English and History. Then I married an Accountant! I love BBC4 Extra, have been enjoying Paul Temple and we even found an old PT film on Talking Pictures which was very of its time, but enjoyable. Xx

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  7. That finger trick is amazing. Wish I had known that 60 years ago.

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  8. I love the radio and only ever listened to Radio 4 when I was a young mum!

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    1. Bob used to say that whenever he went out in the car, he found the radio had always been retuned to radio4

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  9. We had to memorize the tables up to 12 when I was a child at school and we could not use our fingers to count. I always had trouble remembering the 7 times and 8 times tables. :)

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    1. They say the 7 times is the hardest 7️⃣

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  10. Reciting the tables as a child drilled them into my brain, no fingers needed! It's a neat trick, though.

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    1. By the time I was 8, I'd learned all my tables up to 12, plus 14 and 16 (for lbs and oz) We had to recite them every day.

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