Some children love to memorize math facts while others struggle with the memorization. My son does well with math but never completely memorized his multiplication tables and it was slowing him down with his Algebra. Online Times Alive by City Creek Press, Inc. sounded like it might be a unique way to reinforce those facts that he needed to practice.
In this program each multiplication fact is attached to a story to help the student remember the facts. When a student first logs into the program, they are given a pretest which gauges how many of the facts they know and how long it takes them to complete the test. Then they can work through the short lesson for each fact. There are periodic progress checks to see how well they are retaining the lessons that they have completed. When the student has completed all of the lessons they can take a test which will show you if they were able to get a higher percentage correct and if they increased their speed.
My son went through the program and really enjoyed it. ” I think it helped me get more comfortable with my math facts.” He started in a good place with 94% on the pre-test and finished with 98%. While this may not seem like huge growth since he started so high, the bigger success was that he feels more comfortable with the multiplication facts and feels like they are easier to recall now that he has stories associated with them. His favorite was 7 x 7 is 49 because the 7s are soldiers which sit in their 4 (fort) and make sure America stays clean. The sign looks like a 9… 49.
Each fact lesson took him only a few minutes to work through and he enjoyed the process (and didn’t even complain about having to do additional math). He would often do several lessons in one sitting and went through the entire program in about a month. If you have a student who is new to multiplication or starting at a lower proficiency, they would probably take longer to complete the program. Also note that this program is about memorizing the facts and not really about teaching the multiplication concept. This was perfect for us because my son knew and understood how to multiply he just struggled with the quick recall of facts.
One thing that I think is important to note about this program, is that the data from their progress is stored on the computer and not online even though it is an online subscription based program. This may not be a big deal for most families, but it does mean that all work must be done on the same computer to be saved. It is also available as an app on iOS 9.0 and above. We do not have any applicable devices so I have not tried the app, but some of the other Crew members checked it out and you can find out more about how that worked in their reviews.
If you have a child that struggles with learning their multiplication facts or is finding themselves slowed down in higher math because of their multiplication speed, Online Times Alive may be the program for you! It is a fun and engaging way to remember the multiplication facts with just a few minutes of work each day. If you want to give the program a try, City Creek Press, Inc has been generous enough to offer my readers a coupon code to waive the sign up fee($6.95 value) It is— lovetolearn. Also, be sure to click on the graphic below and read all of the other Crew Reviews to see how other families used this product.
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