When I was in school (90s-00s, MI public school), we didn't have to memorize times tables at all. They taught us a bunch of different methods in succession and told us to use whichever we found easiest.
Honestly, I didn't learn them at the time so I couldn't tell you. I was good enough at mental math that I never had to use any (and stubborn to the point that I refused to show work that was done in my head, and so got horrible grades for correct answers). It's only as an adult that I've become interested in learning algorithms and gained any appreciation for mathematics.
