Don't you just love it when you see the light bulb flick on in your child's brain with a concept they have been struggling with for a long time? For many children, they just need a fresh new way to learn something in order to understand. Trigger Memory Systems understands that. Their motto is Education Through Imagination. They offer many products on their site, but there are a couple that through the TOS Homeschool Crew they were generous enough to share with me, that I'd like to tell you about.

The first one is Times Tales: Times Tables Made Easy! - This was such a fun product to review. Since Genius knows her times tables quite well by this point, it wasn't so much a learning venture for us, but we so enjoyed the creativity that went into the making of this product.

This program uses mnemonics to help your child learn the more difficult times tables without tears and while having fun! Using the digits 3 -9 each number represents a picture. Each times tables fact has a story attached to it. Using the picture numbers and the story together, children easily remember the facts as they picture the digits in their heads. Let me give you an example: Mrs. Snowman is represented by the number 8. A chair is represented by the number 4. Mrs. Snowman stood on a Chair to reach her 3 buttons and 2 mittens. 8 x 4 = 32. (The pictures in the book, make this more visual trust me!)

After the teacher has read the story the students discuss the story, and then the student tells the story using the Flip Chart provided. There are Flashcards, with the pictures as well as regular digits, and tests. There are also division flashcards provided.

Genius agreed with me that this was cool, and that she would have benefited from this when she was younger, when learning her times tables. It just occurred to me that it is the same way she learned how to read. When she was in Kindergarten the school used a program called "Animated Alphabet" which used pictures and songs to learn phonics. So I'm sure this Times Tales would have been great!

The whole program costs $29.95 which includes all the teaching supplies you need. It is also non-consumable so you can use it with your whole family, over and over again!

I know this post is getting long, but hang with me, I know you'll be glad you did.

I also had the privilege of receiving a set of the Clean N' Flips. Clean N' Flips are fun, step by step, systems of cleaning the kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms and laundry for kids! Divided into three different flip charts, there is Zone Cleaning (Living spaces/Kitchens/Bathrooms), Bedroom Cleaning and Laundry.

We evidently needed this; as just today a friend asked Genius how her room was decorated, and I replied "is messy a style?" ha ha! In any case, these are great charts for kids to clean on their own, stay on track and accomplish the tasks.

My favorite by far is the laundry one. We had to do some major changes to the chart, and essentially made a whole new one up on our own (it is stated at the beginning that it is only a general guide). But it gave me a start, where I would not have even tried to have Genius do it herself prior to receiving this. Genius after using the chart we made up, based on the Laundry for Kids Clean N' Flip, is now wholly in charge of washing the towels on a weekly basis in our home. If you knew my child, that is endorsement enough for any product!

The Bedroom Cleaning, is great, Genius has not embraced it yet, but she will. This one for the most part is very generic and most families will not have to do much changing to it. I'm looking forward after our vacation to seeing Genius's bedroom decor change from "messy" to "clean"!

The Zone Cleaning chart is unique in that it is laminated, so you can assign different chores to different children. Using a dry erase marker, the kids can rotate chores and do them as fitting their ages or just as a change of pace. This covers most living areas of the home, including the kitchen, family areas and bathrooms. We have not used this much yet, although Genius has enjoyed following the vacuum cleaning chores on this!

I just may have to change Genius's nickname to Molly Maid! hee hee. The full set of Flip Charts costs $29.95 or you can buy them individually as well.

Trigger Memory Systems has done a great job, with their products from helping kids learn everything from math facts to household responsibilities. If you are interested in any of the products I've mentioned check out their website, there are plenty to choose from!