I am so excited to tell you about Times Tales by The Trigger Memory Co. so excuse me if I completely gush about it! This program is nothing short of amazing and has really been a blessing to our homeschool.
Gavin has understood multiplication for quite awhile, but he has never mastered memorizing his upper multiplication facts. Times Tales changed that in 30 minutes. Yes you read that right. 30 minutes!! I have to say, in the years that we've been homeschooling, this is one of my favorite learning tools that we have used yet!
What did we receive?
We received the downloadable product that includes 2 mp4 files and 3 pdf files. There is also a CD version available!
How does Times Tales work?
Times Tales are stories that incorporate the facts and their answers by having the kids memorize the characters and their stories. It is broken down into Part 1 and Part 2. Part 1 is the Upper 3's and 4's while Part 2 covers the 6's, 7's, 8's, and 9's. Like I said before, Times Tales takes about 30 minutes to watch each part, but because it's fun and interactive it doesn't even seem like it. So let's break it down into the 6 steps so that you can see what to expect.
So first, the kids are introduced to the characters. The characters are made out of the numbers and are easier to remember that way. Let me introduce you to just a few.
Meet the 6th grade class, Mrs. Snowman, and the Treehouse. As you can see the characters are made with the numbers as part of their body. This helps the child to have a visual of the number to go with the story. These characters are repeated through the stories and as the child watches, he or she will start to remember the facts.
After they are introduced to all of the characters, they will have a brief review over it to make sure they remember all of them.
So in Step 2, it's time to learn the stories. These are brief stories that are easy to remember. They include the facts and the answers. Here's an example of the fact 7 x 3 = 21. Mrs. Week went butterfly hunting. She caught 20 in her net and 1 landed on her head. The kids know that the butterfly character is the number 3, and Mrs. Week is the number 7. The answer is in the story! 20 in her net and one on her head.
You can see that the stories are fun and engaging with bright colors and memorable characters!
Step 3 is a Story Quiz. This goes over the stories so that the kids can recall what they remember. Just another step to memorization. Gavin really enjoyed doing this. He only watched the stories once, and remembered everything, but don't be afraid to go back and have your child watch them again!
In Step 4 your child becomes the story teller! In this step, the child tries to recall the entire story by memory. The are reminded that they need to tell the story in the right order because that way they get the answer correct! At this point, Gavin realized that he was learning his facts by remembering the story. He was so excited! It felt good to see his face when he realized that he COULD memorize his multiplication facts!
This step will show the kids flashcards that still have the pictures on them. They see the facts but also see the character that is part of the fact. We did this step a few times just because I wanted Gavin to have a couple of chances at it, but he knew them right off the bat!
And finally we are to step 6, Flashcards
These are just your regular flashcards. The characters are taken away and just the multiplication fact is shown. Gavin did this one a few times too, just because it's what I came back to for a few days for him to practice.
Last but not least is the Division Challenge. This goes through the division part with the characters. We haven't done this part yet, but we will be doing it next. I wanted to make sure Gavin had the times tables completely memorized before jumping into anything else!
With the stories you also get printables to go with it. This includes some crosswords, fact worksheets, and a game. I printed them and Gav would do one or 2 sheets everyday. They are a great asset to this program.
After you complete Part 1, you just do it all over again with Part 2. They suggest you wait about a week in between so that they can process what they've learned.
What did we think about Times Tales?
Well I hope you can tell that we LOVE IT!!! I only wish that I had found it months ago!! It has been the biggest blessing of our homeschool yet. I highly recommend Times Tales by The Trigger Memory Co. to any child but especially to children that may be struggling with memorization like Gavin was. It's learning but also FUN!!
Be sure to follow The Trigger Memory Co. on Social Media!!
The Trigger Memory Co. was very generous and allowed 100 of us to review this awesome product, so if you would like to read other reviews, you can click the link below!
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