BlobbleWrite Times Tables is a times tables app with a difference. All the multiplication tables are animated using the BlobbleWrite handwriting font. Designed for use in the classroom and at home, the app reinforces the correct handwriting forms for numbers while helping children learn their multiplication tables.
The app has been designed to be fun and easily accessible for children with a clear and easy-to-understand user interface. There are three modes to help children learn, practise and test their times tables. The app tracks statistics for parents and teachers to review as children progress.
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From the main screen, users can pick a multiplication table to work with. There are then three options:
(i) Learn - watch as the multiplication table is demonstrated using animated writing and voice prompts.
(ii) Practice - the app asks the user to input the correct answer in response to the ordered repetition of the times table.
(iii) Quiz - the app tests the child on their times table knowledge using a series of random questions covering a variety of question forms e.g. ? x 6 = 12, 6 x ? = 12, 2 x 6 = ?, 6 x 2 = ?. Questions are answered with either a number pad entry or a multiple choice selection.
Results from each quiz are reflected on the main screen using a system of bronze, silver, and gold stars associated with each number. This helps children track their progress and attainment.
The app also records the user’s progress and the results can be viewed by a parent or teacher in the settings pane. Results are grouped by ‘session’ - starting the app creates a new session as does resetting the app using the slider on the main screen. In this way, parents and teachers can review the progress of multiple children without having to create individual profiles for every user.
There are options to switch animation on and off and to include our friendly Blobbles in the question-and-answer animations. You can also easily reset the test history from the settings menu.
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We created the original BlobbleWrite app almost ten years ago and since then it has been used in thousands of schools and homes around the world. Our goal is simple - to try and improve the handwriting skills of children with straightforward and easy-to-use apps that are suitable for homes and schools.
Over time we’ve seen firsthand and through feedback from teachers and parents that children with otherwise very good handwriting continue to write some numbers incorrectly as they progress through school. The reasons for this are possibly that:
(i) the teaching of handwriting skills tends to focus on the alphabet and progressing to cursive forms. Numbers are often left to ‘take care of themselves’.
(ii) in an increasingly digital world there are fewer and fewer opportunities for children to observe numbers being written which in turn means less opportunity to learn the correct forms.
The BlobbleWrite Times Tables app aims to give children exposure to the correct number forms as they make progress with learning their multiplication tables.