Kids Math: Elementary Practice
1. Start where your child is comfortable, not where their age suggests
If you jump straight to the unit for your child's age, they may get many wrong on the first day and start to dislike practice itself. For the first few days, start with a unit where your child gets most answers right, so they first experience “I can do this.”
To find a starting point, have your child solve 5 problems from the unit for their age and 5 from a unit one step easier. If they often miss the easier unit too, start there. If they get almost all of both right, start with the unit for their age.
| Age | Check this unit first (app level) | Move on to these when comfortable |
|---|---|---|
| Ages 7-8 | Lv.4 “Add 5-10 · 2-digit addition” | Lv.5 “Subtract 4-10”, “Subtract from ≤16” |
| Ages 8-9 | Lv.5 “Addition & Subtraction review” | Lv.6 “2-digit addition”, “2-digit subtraction” |
| Ages 9-10 | Lv.6 “2-digit subtraction” | Lv.7 “Multiplication tables”, “Division basics · Remainders” |
Ages follow the app's levels. Every child progresses at a different pace, so the table is only an example to help you find a starting point.
2. Keep it short: 10 problems, about 10 minutes a day
Young children can only focus for a short time. Solving about 10 problems every day is easier, and builds a habit more readily, than doing a lot at once. If your child gets bored or mistakes suddenly increase, stop there for the day.
Setting a regular time and place means you do not have to argue about “whether to do it” every day. It works well to attach it to something already in the daily routine, such as before dinner or after homework.
3. What parents do while the child solves
- Let them finish. Correcting a wrong answer right away takes away your child's chance to think it through. Grade after they have finished.
- Do not time them at first. There is plenty of time to look at speed once an accurate method is in place.
- Praise the process, not the score. Say specifically what they did well, such as “You remembered to write the carried 1.”
- Have them retry wrong answers only once on the same day. The details are in How to review wrong answers in arithmetic.
4. A sample first week
| Day | What to do |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | 5 problems from the unit for your child's age + 5 from a unit one step easier, to find the starting point |
| Days 2-4 | 10 problems from the starting unit. After grading, retry only the wrong answers |
| Day 5 | 7 problems from the starting unit mixed with 3 from the next unit, for a first taste |
| Days 6-7 | Take a break, or check the units missed this week again with new problems |
From the second week, you can choose units to practice by looking at accuracy for each unit. See How to choose units to practice using accuracy by unit for how.
5. Getting started with Kids Math: Elementary Practice
- Install the app from Google Play. You can start right away without signing up. To keep your records long term, link a Google or email account later.
- Add your child in the Children tab. If you have more than one child, you can add each of them and manage them separately.
- In the Create tab, choose under 📚 Select Level → 📖 Select Unit, then set the number of problems on the unit card. You can also choose several units to mix them.
- Choose your child under 👶 For whom? and create the problems. The Free plan allows 10 problems a day (per parent account), and an ad plays before problems are created.
- Your child can solve on your phone with Solve on this phone now right after creating, or sign in on their own device with the family code and their own 4-digit PIN.
- When your child submits, tap ✅ Grade Now. Your child sees the score on the results screen and retries the problems they got wrong with ❌ Retry Wrong Answers.