In third grade, it was a big deal for us to learn our times tables. Our teacher, Mrs. B., made my class a deal. When we memorized our times tables (0 through 12’s) she would allow us to start writing in pen during the school day, in all classes except math. Being able to write in pen was a big deal to us. I don’t remember how long it took myself or any of my classmates to memorize our times tables but we memorized them the traditional way by studying with either a list or flashcards. I wish this fun program was available when we were memorizing our multiplication facts!
Times Alive has online lessons with animated songs and stories to learn times tables the fun way. The animated songs and stories are catchy and children remember them! The program has a monthly subscription for $9.95 and there is a setup cost of $6.95.
Before beginning the first Times Alive lesson, there is a test to assess the student’s multiplication knowledge. Once that is completed, the student will begin with lesson one and learning the 0 & 1 facts. The following lessons do not go in order (ie: 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s etc.) but starts off with teaching 3×3, followed by 3×4, 2’s, and reviews of 1’s & 2’s and 3×3. There are built in review pages and progress checks throughout the lessons. You can access any lesson at any time.
The interface is very user-friendly! You log into the website with your user name and password then the student logs in with their name. The page automatically opens up to the lesson list for you to choose which lesson to begin with. Make sure you write down the student name that you use for each person as the user names do not show up on the screen. If you forget the user name, you will not have access to any of the previous work. You can easily access everything through the buttons on the bottom of the page (Turning sound on/off, pausing the story, exiting the program, access the help files, going to the Lesson List, repeating a lesson, moving on to the next lesson, and checking the student’s progress report.).
The Lesson List is a brief overview of the lessons and includes information about what type of lesson it is (movie, song, paint, quiz or test), if the lesson has been viewed or completed, the section and name of the lessons, as well as which fact(s) that are taught/reviewed in the lesson. On the lesson list, you can access and print the Teacher’s Directions.
The student progress report is set up similar to the lesson list with the lesson information, except it also shows the scores that were recorded and you have the option of printing the progress report. I recommend printing the progress report throughout usage in case you cannot access the information at a later date.
Sweet Pea said she liked everything about the program, especially their approach to teaching multiplication facts. She liked the stories and songs and they are helping her to remember the times tables.
I liked that the lessons could be completed in any order and that I can start her off on a specific lesson if I see that she struggled through a lesson. If you are looking for a fun way to help your child learning their multiplication facts I highly recommend Times Alive by Times Tables the Fun Way!
Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LearnMultiplication
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F35_ZRpRzJI
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