Learn Multiplication with Online Times Alive {A Curriculum Review}

Over the years I have changed from a school-at-home type of homeschooler to one who considers herself pretty relaxed. I have found that this approach works best for all of us. Yet, when it comes to math, I still hold to my old tendencies. I still work really hard to make sure my kids have a great math foundation that they can build on. Part of this foundation includes memorizing math facts – and multiplication is no exception. In my opinion, this skill is key to math success and necessary no matter what your goals for life include. For the last few weeks, my fourth grader has been working on learning his multiplication facts as part of our review of the six-month subscription of Online Times Alive from City Creek Press, Inc.

Multiplication – A Necessary Skill

Technically, my son and I began working on memorizing the multiplication tables last year. He was in the 3rd grade and this skill is typically introduced then. I can remember as a student myself simply sitting with a copy of the times table and committing the facts to memory. No tricks. No games. Just me and a table of math facts.

So when it came time to teach this vital skill to my son, I printed off a copy of the multiplication table and sent him off on his way. We worked on his facts daily yet, they weren’t really sticking. This prompted us to try writing them out and using flashcards and while we made some progress, he was quickly becoming frustrated.

I was already searching for something, anything really, that could help him when the Online Times Alive review came up. As both a parent and a homeschooler I was ready to try whatever it took to help my son. You see, math has always come easily to him. He even grasped the concept of multiplication quickly and can add up the answers to problems like 8×9 easily. For some reason, though, simply knowing that 72 is the correct answer didn’t come as easily. I was becoming concerned that struggle was going to wear at his confidence in his math abilities.

More so, I grew increasingly aware that without having his multiplication facts memorized our math program was essentially at a standstill.

Learning Multiplication with Online Times Alive

After checking out the City Creek Press, Inc. website, I knew I was ready to give Online Times Alive a try. I had read what could, watched a cute sample video, and now had “thirsty sixes” stuck in my head.

All that was left to do was wait for the email with signup instructions. Once that arrived, setting up my account was easy enough and my son was ready to begin learning his multiplication facts the fun way.

A couple of things to note about Online Times Alive. The program is based on a book and available on a few different platforms. For this review, my son and I used the computer. However, if you are going to also use a computer know that you have to return to the same computer each time you log in, otherwise your child’s progress will not be saved. You can also get an app on both iTunes and Google Play.

To get started, you simply watch the first video and follow the onscreen directions. The first lesson is a quick pre-test. This gives you a base of what your child knows. My son was not impressed with this, but I simply asked him to follow the directions which were to complete the test as quickly as he could. Knowing he was struggling with memorizing the facts, I told him not to worry about it and just go through the test.

Following the test he was introduced to the first lesson titled “Zero is King.” In this short video your child learns that zero is always the king, and any number multiplied by zero will always be zero. The next lesson, “The Lonely Ones” is also quick and covers the rule for multiplying any number by 1.

From here we get into the meat of the program. Online Times Alive promises to teach math the fun way, and they do this with picture stories, songs, and skits. “Three Blind Mice” teach kids that 3×3=9 by using mouse tails that look like 3’s and pointing out that blind kind of sounds like nine. 3×4 is taught as a cheer. 1,2,3,4 shows that 4×3=12. And those thirsty 6’s, well watching 2 thirsty sixes (36) walk through the desert teaches 6×6.

Day after day my son watched the lessons, listened to the songs, and practiced the math facts. But, when it came to the reviews (where he had to answer multiplication problems) he was still either getting them wrong on skipping them because he didn’t know the answer.

Trying A Different Approach

After completing more than half of the 18 lessons in this manner, I decided to change things up. While my son still watched the lessons, listened to the songs, painted scenes from the movies, and even worked the reviews the same as before I decided to slow him down come test time.

No longer was he going to rush through them as quickly as he could. Always one to follow the rules, he questioned this (the program states to complete the reviews as quickly as possible). But I really wanted to see if he didn’t know the answers, or simply didn’t realize he did know them. So after another lesson, I reminded him to slow down on the test. When he came to a problem he didn’t know the answer to I asked him if he remembered the trick, the hint, the tip, etc. in hopes that it would jog his memory. If he didn’t, I gave him a small hint. I’d ask him if he remembered the cheer, told him one of the numbers was a bow or a tail, and even reminded him that one was a diving board. Some even I couldn’t recall, but with that little hint he was doing better.

Together we worked through the program. There were some lessons he didn’t enjoy (such as 5) because they were quite long. There were several I didn’t enjoy (such as 5 and 9) because they encouraged using fingers rather than memorizing the answer, but I let the program teach anyway.

Each day he learned a new trick to a multiplication problem. And each day he “got” the trick. He could see the picture, see the numbers and the solution. He was having fun as the program was quick and most lessons were relatively short. Yet many of the reviews he scored low on. Not wanting to hamper the review, we kept moving forward.

Finishing Up Online Times Alive

Even though we began this review late, we were able to complete all 18 lessons including the pre-test and the final one. During the picture review, he could find the correct picture to go with the multiplication facts. He could paint the pictures pretty close to how they were shown during the videos.

But the one thing he couldn’t do at the end – multiply fluently. Maybe my hopes were too high for the program. Maybe we need to clear all of his results and go through it again. I don’t really know.

What I do know is that through it all, my son did have fun. So I can say that Online Times Alive did live up to the promise that he would learn the fun way.

Personally, I’d love to see the directions for this program be clearer. While it appears simple enough, I was constantly feeling like we were missing something. Often, my son would get the picture story and math fact, only to not remember the answer come test time simply because the numbers were backwards (3×4 instead of 4×3). Some of the stories are a stretch, like 7×8 where 7 bounces on a trampoline (shaped like an 8), lands on a diving board (shaped like a 5) and dives into a pool (shaped like a 6).

And many times, the facts were presented in one order, but told in another order in the story.

When it comes to the tests, my son was often frustrated navigating them. Hitting enter to submit your answer doesn’t move the courser to the next box. And if you aren’t fast enough, the program will tell you to hurry up.

Online Times Alive from City Creek Press

This is one of the few reviews where I am torn. While my son saw progress, it wasn’t much. In fact, if I hadn’t reminded him that he knew the answers to many of the questions he would have skipped right past them.

While he enjoyed the songs and skits, I personally did not. Mouse tails shaped like 3’s, snowmen shaped like 8’s, and snakes shaped like 2’s are simply odd to me. Some of the stories made sense, but many did not. It felt like they were stretching to show the answer.

Yet every day we worked on Online Times Alive he was excited to sit down and do it. And if she was quiet, my five-year-old joined us as well. She still sings “Thirsty sixes” even if she doesn’t understand the point yet.

Every time I asked my son if he liked the program, he’d say yes. He still can’t remember what 6×3 is, but if I tell him that the 3 is a bow he can tell me that the one is the arrow, the eight is bigfoot, and then realize the 6×3 is 18. So I guess you can say he is getting there.

As far as moving forward, I’m honestly not sure if we are going to clear his progress and try it again or not. But, if you are curious about trying out Online Times Alive from City Creek Press, Inc. you can do so at a discount! Simply use code lovetolearn to waive the $6.95 setup fee. Or check out the lite version of the app for free to see if it’s right for you.

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