Another Great Tool For Learning Multiplication Tables

My kids have always hated learning multiplication.  All of them, from the ones who are grown ups now on down, it has always been a challenge and a struggle, so I was a little nervous about agreeing to review Times Tales from The Trigger Memory Co.

The Times Tales program is made up of 2 movies and some supplemental printable materials.  We received the digital download version, but it is also available on CD.

Now, my chief testers for this product were going to be Jack, who is 11, and Hannah, who is 8.  However, things have a way of turning into a group activity around here, so Katie, who is just 5 years old, ended up sitting in on watching the movies, too.

There are several different sections to the interactive movie, and if, at any point, you're not getting it, you're instructed to go back and re-watch what you missed.  But it's pretty simple, really.  The program makes pictures out of numbers, and then immerses those pictures in stories that are easy to remember.

At one point in the movie, they show you a picture of the story, you pause the video, tell the story, and then restart it to see if you got it right.  The kids were all telling the stories, even Katie.

On day one, we watched the first movie, and I had the older kids do the crossword puzzle during quiet time to help cement the characters in their minds.  One day 2, I gave Jack and Hannah the printed Practice Test for part one.  Jack missed 6x3 and 3x6, but other than that, they got all the rest correct.  I couldn't believe they're really memorizing the times tables from this movie, but they are!

The following day, we watched the movie again, and I gave them the printed test with regular numbers, no pictures.  Hannah missed one problem.

The program recommends waiting a week between mastering the first video and starting the second one, but there are plenty of ways to review in the meantime.  These are the flash cards, which we printed on cardstock and practiced with.

We made the dice cubes (again, printed on cardstock for durability) and played the Roll-'Em game.

I let Hannah roll one and Jack roll the other, and they would recount the story that goes with the two numbers and multiply the two numbers together.

Soon, a week had passed, and it was time to begin viewing the second portion of the video.  If you have the downloads, like we do, the videos come as two separate files.  We watched the second video a total of 3 times with a day or two between each viewing.

I used a different color of cardstock for the second set of picture flash cards so that we could differentiate between the two sets.

One of the ways I know that Times Tales is working for my kids is that Hannah has completely passed the multiplication section of the online timed drill site that my kids use regularly.  I have confidence that Jack will soon finish it, as well.  Times Tales is a good program, especially for visual learners, and those who have a hard time remembering seemingly meaningless facts.  I wish I'd had this from the time my eldest child was in 3rd grade!  How much easier it would have been for all my kids to learn their times tables in a fun and memorable way.  I'm sure when the time comes for Katie to learn them, they won't seem as intimidating to her as they were to the older kids, since she's been introduced to them in this manner.

You can connect with The Trigger Memory Co. on Facebook.  To read about the experiences of other Crew families with Times Tales, please click the box below.

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Our Busy Week

Happy April!  Even though Monday was no school and Wednesday and Thursday we had appointments during school time, we still managed to get a decent amount of schoolwork done this week, for which I'm thankful.  The girls got new legs on Wednesday!  We have to go back in 2 weeks for parts and adjustments, but at least they're walking better now.  

Sharing the computers gets more interesting with all 3 of my students using XtraMath.com now.  Katie is doing addition, Jack is doing multiplication, and Hannah just started division.  We have an unwritten rule that the kids get a new video game when they finish a level in XtraMath, so Hannah got a Paddington app for her Leap Pad when she finished multiplication.  Katie and Jack continue to use Reading Kingdom, and Jack and Hannah are working on a new computer program for an upcoming review.

I'm pleased with Katie's progress in reading, and I'll be sharing what we're using with her this coming week.

My students took a field trip with daddy to the fire engine dealer so he could check out some new technology for work.

He's on the apparatus committee, and has been instrumental in all the recent equipment purchases in his department.  I've talked before about him bringing home a fire engine and then later, a fire truck.

The Magnatiles have been getting a workout the last couple of weeks.  It's fun to see things cycle in and out of popularity around here.

These were originally Brianna's, but in one of her recent room cleaning episodes, she decided they could live with Katie's light table.

Having them out and accessible means that all sorts of people play with them.  Even daddy.

And Josiah.

I didn't get a chance to show Eli's shirt from our trip to Jelly Belly Factory before, so here it is.  The really cool thing is that this is an actual maneuver that Eli has seen at the air show before.  They land the plane on top of a moving vehicle.

Speaking of Eli, he's taking robotics at school.  A couple weeks ago, his robotics class went to a Sea Perch competition, where they placed 4th or 5th out of 20 schools!  He had a great time.  I love seeing what the kids' different passions are as they get older.

Josiah and I took the kids out for ice cream while Eli stayed home on Josiah's computer and kept an eye on Luke.  When I downloaded pictures from my phone, I thought, "Bummer, his eyes are closed!" but then I realized, that really captures the feeling of enjoying yummy ice cream on a warm spring day.

Note to self.  Next time, Hannah gets to pick a light colored ice cream.  And I should carry wipes.

He really does smile, I promise.  Just not for pictures.  I enjoy having him around the house and taking him on adventures with me.  I will miss him when he moves out.  He made progress toward that end this week, and it's bittersweet for me.  I know he's growing up and spreading his wings, but I'm still a mom, you know?

Luke will see the cardiologist this coming week.  I'm looking forward to hearing what they have to say about our little medical puzzle boy.

I found this puzzle in the girls' closet that they had never opened, so they were very excited to put it together.  Excuse the weekend hair!

We recently finished reading Paddington as part of our new literature program.  One morning when I was doing her hair, Hannah said, "I wish I was Paddington."  When I asked her why, she said, "Because he came from darkest Peru and got to go to England."  I told her, "You and Paddington have something in common.  You came from China and got to go to the United States!"  She lit up and said, "That's right!  We both emigrated!"  She wants to see the world.  When we did a creative writing assignment on what it would be like to have a penguin for a pet, she also mentioned taking it to see the whole world.

This coming week has a couple of appointments in it, but we should be able to get back to doing a whole week of schoolwork.

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Green Sport Watch review

Eli got a new watch!  He's growing up.  He's taller than me now.  And as he learns how to manage his time, he has the need to know what time it is.

I don't wear a watch any more.  I always check the time on my cell phone.  But since Eli doesn't have a phone yet, a watch is perfect for him.

This particular watch is Aposon mens military watch.  It features both digital and analog times.  It's water resistant, and has an alarm.

Eli was delighted when I gave it to him!

It's proven to be durable as well as stylish.  We are very pleased with this watch.  It also comes in orange.

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Backyard Egg Hunt

Happy Easter, everyone!

We had poor luck with hard boiled eggs this year.  We cooked 2 dozen, but about half of them cracked.

Each of the kids got to dye two eggs.

Eli photobombs when I try to get a picture of Brianna all dressed up.

She made a great rainbow egg.  The picture really doesn't do it justice.

She used a rubber band on her other egg.  When it cracked, the cracks were pink against the violet background.  It looked like lightning.

The cat was not at all sure what we were up to.

140 eggs before they were hidden.

On your marks!  Get Set!

And they're off.

So, funny thing about the back yard.  The kids have been saying we should let the "grass" (okay, so it's weeds) grow to make the hunt more challenging.

Paul was going to weed whack it a few days ago, but the weed whacker broke a few steps in.

So it was a jungle out there.  See Hannah above?  Somehow, that's the ONLY picture I got of her hunting.

Looks like Eli got the ones under the trampoline.

Paul and I enjoy hiding the eggs.  He likes to match the eggs to the color of the plastic they're up against to camouflage them.

Personally, this year, with the "grass" so tall, all I had to do was walk around and drop them, and they vanished instantly.

Poor Sam.  I think Easter must be his least favorite holiday, since we tease him about his, er, difficulty finding eggs.

So with 140 eggs and 7 hunters, each child should have found 20 eggs, right?

Well, most of them did.  Somewhere out there, if we've counted correctly, there are still 3 eggs.  Hannah only found 19, and Sam only found 18.  And that was with all of us helping the last 3 hunters.

Paul says next year we should use a piece of tape on the eggs to keep them from popping open before the kids are ready.

Realized after I posted the Jelly Belly Factory field trip that I'd forgotten to share the girls with the Easter Bunny.


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