An apparatus for teaching mathematics is comprised of a visual display having rows of integers sequentially presented from left to right and top to bottom. A plurality of the integers are highlighted as a pattern such that they each have one common factor and each highlighted integer is a multiple of that factor. To teach multiplication of a multiplier by an upper limited series of multiplicands, a value of the multiplier to be taught is determined. The student is taught to skip count the multiplier for a range of multiplicands within the series. The range is progressively increased to the upper limit. A strategy for multiplication comprising determining a product by skip counting by the multiplier for a number of iterations equal to the multiplicand is taught. The skip counting process is visually pointed out on the apparatus. The skip counting procedure can also be used to teach division.