Mr Thorne's Times Tables Terra app review: a multiplication practice app worth checking out

Introduction

Mr Thorne's Times Tables Terra is and iPad app that assists in teaching multiplication tables from one through 13, and then 15, 20, 25, 30, 50, 100, and a mystery scramble of questions. The setup is in a row of colored question boxes, and you can select the colors in any order you choose. When you get through all the levels flawlessly, you begin to Discover New Worlds and the adventure continues!

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Fun Math Practice

Mr Thorne's Times Tables Terra assists in practicing multiplication from one  through 13, then 15, 20, 25, 30, 50, 100, and a mystery scramble of questions. Each of the tables has a planet icon to choose from, and then pulls up an options list of Beginner, First Class, World Class, and Help. Under Help, you find Mr Thorne’s Tutorial, a video rhyming off the times table which you can chant along with to practice. There is also a cheat sheet listing the times table which you can read and chant along with to practice.

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Beginner level presents 12 colored blocks to choose from, in any order you would like. Unlike the Spellbook, these are not numbered, which makes it easier for your student to use them out of order. The Beginner level presents the multiplication table just as you would rhyme it off, in order of the increasing numbers if you choose to do them in order.

First Class level also presents 12 colored blocks. The only difference is that the times tables are now scrambled, making going in order a little more difficult. Rather than skip counting, you have to remember the answers or repeatedly skip count.

World Class level is a greater challenge, as the table can be multiplied by anything from 0 through 100. Questions like 19x5, 17x9, and 4x35 pop up regularly to stretch your learning.

Once you have completed each of the difficulty levels, you Discover a New World to add to your Planetarium, the reward system of the game.

 

Audial, Visual, and Verbal Learning

Mr Thorne's Times Tables Terra for iPad utilizes visual and audial learning through the presentation of the videos in the Help section, with the questions appearing at the bottom of the screen, and encourages the student to repeat the sounds back therein also using verbal learning. This is important as students learn differently, and by utilizing three of the five main learning styles (visual, audial, verbal, physical, and logical) Mr Thorne's Times Tables Terra is hitting many of the gaps.

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I also appreciate that rather than stopping at 12 as many of the practice apps do, Mr Thorne's Times Tables Terra continues right up to 100, teaching students how to compute taxes, multiply by 15s for clocks, or 60s for hours.

 

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Uses Audial, Visual, and Verbal learning to help your child succeed
• Mr Thorne does all the videos himself which really shows his dedication to his students
• Planetarium reward system allows the student to Discover New Worlds when they have mastered all three levels of the times table they are working on
• Older kids get involved because it is not presented like a little kids game

Cons

• It’s pricey

 

Final Thoughts

Mr Thorne's Times Tables Terra for iPad is a fabulous app for teaching kids multiplication, or helping older kids who struggle or never learned the basics of times tables. When I was teaching grade 7 and 8 I often came across kids who did not know their times tables, and we would practice them. This app has been very helpful in my tutoring business, and while pricey, it is worth every penny. I would definitely recommend it to students.