The "Associative Laws" say that it doesn't matter how we group the numbers (i.e. which we calculate first) ...
... when we add
... or when we multiply.
Example addition: (6 + 3) + 4 = 6 + (3 + 4)
Because 9 + 4 = 6 + 7 = 13
Example multiplication: (2 × 4) × 3 = 2 × (4 × 3)
8 × 3 = 2 × 12 = 24