Times Alive {Review}

Math was my favourite subject in High School and not so much in Primary School.  Why? Well I hated memory work especially because I could not grasp why I should learn my multiplication tables.  I could add up faster than my friends and get to the correct answer faster than they could do the test knowing their facts. Did you know that only 62% of multiplication facts are retained after one week of route memorization?  Learning multiplication facts has been painfully slow for us so when we were offered Times Alive by Times Tables the Fun Way we jumped at the opportunity to trial it and see whether it would unlock our multiplication facts.

What we received
Instant Times Alive Software - Monthly Subscription Online Version access for three months. The online version consists of 18 lessons.

How we used it
Once we signed up it was an easy process of logging in at the portal. Once you log in the first step is to do an evaluation test.  The test measures accuracy and speed and gives you your accuracy in percentage. All the tests are self marking and correcting.

 Navigation is simple you have a back and forward button.

The progress report is a single page giving you the type of lesson completed (movie, song, paint, quiz or test), the section with a lesson description, the fact learned, date completed, percentage score and time taken.

 Here is a sample test after watching four lessons once each.  As you can see there was a HUGE improvement after only four lessons.

The lesson list shows you at a glance where the student is.  You can see which lessons have been completed, which ones have been viewed as well as which facts have been covered in each lesson.  There are a total of 18 lessons to work through. We used Times Alive for a lesson a day.  We have not repeated any lessons and all the facts have been retained with a gentle reminder for each story.

Each lesson contains a story which is presented via a picture animation followed by a song reinforcing the fact learned in the story.  This is then followed by a game or an activity such as coloring on screen the picture associated with the story. You can watch a sample lesson on YouTube here: Times Alive 6 x 6



For the Parent
In order to use the online version you will need a computer and internet connection.  The software works on all operating systems. You will need a minimum of the following computer specs:

• 400 mhz or greater
• 128 MB of RAM or greater
• Speakers
• Mouse or other pointing device
• Video at 1024x768 or higher

Times Alive does work on an iPad providing you use a Flash app.

Connect with Times Alive



Over All I thought ...
We're both impressed with the effectiveness and simplicity of the Times Alive  program.  I have learned some of the multiplication facts I have struggled with my entire life in less than a week. Times Alive is available for purchase from City Creek Press here.

Blessings
Chareen