Times Tales (A REVIEW)

I am always looking for creative ways to get our multiplication facts memorized. It has been something that I haven't really had a great solution to until recently. We had the opportunity to try out Times Tales from The Trigger Memory Co, and I think I might have found something that has really helped in this area. Even my 5 year old enjoyed it, and caught on real fast even though this wasn't necessarily for him.

We received a digital download of Times Tales, but it also comes in a physical DVD set. Along with our 2 digital mp4 files of part 1 and part 2, we also received PDF files for printables that go along with each part. It was easy to download, and we could watch them right away. The printables included some flash cards, crosswords, and tests. Those printables were super helpful to reinforce the concepts learned in the dvd.

My kids and I found the dvd part both interesting, fun, and challenging. How does it work? Basically, the dvd's cover the "tale" part of this program. We learn so well through stories, right? Well, this program captures that so perfectly. It uses mini little "tales" to help the children associate each multiplication fact with a story. They can quickly recall that story, and that will help them immediately recall the answer. It also has a division challenge at the end of each part.

When I first showed part 1 to my 7 year old, he was so worried about not remembering the details that he took notes. He grabbed a bunch of sticky notes to write them down because at the beginning it instructs the child to really pay attention because each part of the story is important. He quickly learned though that he didn't need those notes. As the child watches the dvd it guides them through the process of memorizing the story to make sure they have it down. It has a review before the quiz of facts. We can also watch it as many times as needed, or back it up if we need to review more.

We watched part 1 twice because the first time we watched it I had only showed it to my 7 year-old, so I wanted to include the 9 year-old too. I showed it on the big tv this time to involve everyone. Both boys were groaning about watching it at first, but by the end of both parts they were totally involved and trying to answer first.  I think they were afraid it would be too cheesy for them, but the stories are engaging, and some even kind of funny. The host's voice is very nice, and the 30 minutes for each part goes by pretty fast. Not boring at all! Like I said earlier, my 5-year old picked up these stories pretty easily too. He's got a jump start on learning his times tales!

The worksheets provided some great re-inforcement. They were both able to complete the tests pretty quickly, and efficiently. Another benefit besides the worksheets/printables was that we had fun recalling the stories just in everyday life. At bedtime tonight my boys wanted me to ask them the times tales as they were laying in bed. Thankfully I had watched all the movies, and was able to easily recall most of them. I am pretty impressed with how many of the stories I remembered. It was a fun bedtime activity.

Overall, I am very impressed with this program. I think showing them the dvd's a few more times throughout the school year will really keep their memories fresh as they continue to master their times tables. It doesn't cover all the times tables, just the difficult ones. For example, it doesn't include the 5's table, those are pretty easy to get down. If you have been looking for something creative to learn multiplication this might just be right for  your homeschool!

If you want to hear what other families have to say about Times Tales click on the link below, and it will take you to a listing of the other crew members that also had the opportunity to try this out. Fun stuff!