I have mentioned before that my kids are very smart in certain areas. I guess that kind of goes with the territory of autism. However, they also have their super week areas. In some ways Joshua and Jacob are the same but in some ways they are opposites. One of the ways that they are opposites is in the area of math. Jacob catches on to arithmetic super fast but Joshua has a very difficult time with it. Despite their age difference, they are really almost on the same level in math. That’s why I was excited to be able to review Times Alive by Times Tables the Fun Way.
I decided to begin using it with Joshua since he still has a very difficult time with his times tables. He has loved using this program and, despite me being super sick for much of this review period and not able to keep up with homeschooling as much as I should, Joshua has learned a lot and is very excited about continuing to use the program.
What I really love about this program is that it uses a very non-traditional way to teach the multiplication tables. Although it’s very sequential in it’s teaching, it is unusual in all other aspects.
After a super easy registration process, I was given a three month access to their online lessons with animated songs and stories to learn times tables the fun way. And, let me tell you it really is fun.
There are 18 lessons in Times Alive and each lesson has 3 – 5 sections to it. Joshua was easily able to do every section in a lesson in one sitting, but, as I mentioned before, we have not completed the whole program so he may not be able to complete every part of a lesson as the multiplication facts that are being taught get more difficult. Each section takes only a few minute and each lesson does not have to be completed all in one setting at all, they can be divided up to accommodate the student. It is recommended that a child works with the program for about 20 minutes at least twice a week.
Joshua began by taking a quick test to see how much he actually knew. It was to be taken as quickly as possible but, being the perfectionist that Joshua is, he took way too much time. After a few minutes a kind voice came on saying that he was taking too much time.
After taking the quick test, the fun begins. As I mentioned before, everything is done in a sequential manner. The first sections he watched were “Zero is the King” and “The Lonely Ones”. Each fact is taught in a very fun way using animated stories and/or songs. After each fact is taught, the child is quickly quizzed on what he has learned.
Next comes “The Three Blind Mice” and so on. Each fact or set of facts is taught with an animated song or story then followed up with a quick quiz. Periodically a test to review what has been learned appears for the child to take and, every so often a fun game or activity such as painting a picture will show up for a child to do.
I love the master page where you can see what has been done and what is coming up next. Although you are able to skip around, it is recommended that you do everything sequentially because one thing builds on another.
As I mentioned before, Joshua loves this and is excited about using it. I am going to begin using it with Jacob as well. To find out more about Times Alive by Times Tables the Fun Way just click on any one of the highlighted links above. You can also check them out on social media by clicking on one of the links below. To find out what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew had to say click on the banner below. Happy Homeschooling!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LearnMultiplication/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F35_ZRpRzJI
No comments:
Post a Comment