FAQs

Research shows that students learn math facts best when practice emphasizes reasoning, relationships, and efficient strategies rather than memorization. MathFactLab was built around this research.

Through strategy-based practice with multiple visual models, students learn to recognize the patterns and relationships that connect the basic facts. This deeper understanding helps students develop the accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility that define math fact fluency, leading to fast, confident, and reliable recall over time.

MathFactLab was created by Mike Kenny, a veteran fifth-grade math teacher. Frustrated that the math fact materials available online didn't align with best practices — and weren't helping his students — he set out to build something better. MathFactLab is the result of over a dozen years of effort, extensive research, a great heap of advice, many drafts, and lots of trial and error in Mike's classroom and beyond.

MathFactLab is designed for students developing addition/subtraction or multiplication/division fact fluency, whether they are learning facts for the first time or strengthening skills that were not mastered in earlier grades. It can be used in classrooms, intervention programs, homeschooling environments, and by families seeking additional practice at home. We do not recommend the platform for kindergarteners.

Generally, we recommend three to five 10-minute sessions per week. When completed consistently in a supportive environment, students make steady progress. The ideal number of sessions per week depends on factors such as the student's current fluency level, how quickly fluency is needed, whether the material is new or a review, and whether prerequisite facts have already been mastered.

Yes, students take a placement test the first time they log in. The test asks sample questions from each level, starting with the easiest. Once the questions become too difficult, the assessment ends. The student is then assigned their starting level and can immediately begin practicing. Learn more.

MathFactLab uses multiple visual models to help students understand number relationships and develop efficient fact strategies. In addition and subtraction, students work with ten frames, number racks (rekenreks), double-bar diagrams, and number lines. In multiplication and division, students use area models, open arrays, dice patterns, number lines, and bar diagrams. These models help students see patterns, think about problems in multiple ways, and develop the flexibility needed for true fact fluency. Models can be enabled or disabled to align with classroom instruction.

MathFactLab provides teachers with a variety of tools to accommodate different learning needs. Teachers can adjust fluency expectations, session lengths, assessment settings, learning modes, and available strategies, allowing practice to be tailored to individual students and groups. Learn more.

Teachers and administrators can access reports on student usage, assessment performance, fluency growth, and overall progress. School and District Plans also provide class- and school-level reporting to help monitor implementation and student growth. Learn more.

Yes. MathFactLab can be used as part of an intervention program for any students, regardless of grade level, who have not yet met fact fluency standards from earlier grades. In fact, struggling students often benefit the most from MathFactLab's strategy-based approach because they are typically the students least well served by memorization. Due to the platform's age-neutral design, middle and high school students are just as comfortable practicing with it as elementary students.

Yes! To meet the needs of advanced students, MathFactLab goes well beyond the basics by offering multiple advanced stages for both addition/subtraction and multiplication/division. Students progress from basic fact fluency all the way to learning how to mentally add/subtract two-digit numbers and quickly solve any multiplication problem up to 20 x 20. Learn more.

No. Teachers decide when students are ready to begin multiplication/division and can assign it at any time. However, strong addition fact fluency provides an important foundation for learning multiplication facts.

It's not uncommon for MathFactLab students working on multiplication/division facts to also need practice with their addition/subtraction facts. While students can't practice addition/subtraction and multiplication/division simultaneously in a single session, it's very easy for teachers to move students between the two learning modes, without any loss of data. Some teachers even have students alternate between the two modes throughout the week.

• Yes. MathFactLab complies with both FERPA and COPPA requirements. We collect only the information needed to provide our educational services, do not sell student data, and take student privacy seriously. Additional details can be found in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

• Yes. MathFactLab integrates with both Clever and ClassLink for secure single sign-on (SSO) and rostering.

• Yes. Our School/District Plan accounts offer Google SSO for all users.

• • Teachers and administrators can access reports on student usage, placement and assessment performance, fluency growth, and overall progress. School and District Plans also provide aggregated reporting to help monitor implementation and growth across classrooms and schools. Learn more.

• • MathFactLab's DIY Professional Development Guide gives educators a thorough introduction to the platform in about 25 minutes. Its tutorial videos cover the research behind MathFactLab, the student experience, placement testing, the teacher dashboard, differentiation options, reporting tools, and additional implementation resources.
• School and District Plans also include a complimentary Train-the-Trainer(s) session, scheduled at your convenience, to support successful implementation.

• • MathFactLab offers plans for schools, teachers, and families. School and District Plans start at $3 per student per year with a 50-student minimum. Teacher Plans start at $125 per year for 50 student licenses, with discounts available for teachers paying out of pocket. Family Plans start at $15 per year for the first child and $5 for each additional child. Visit our Pricing page for complete details.

• • Yes. MathFactLab accepts purchase orders from schools and districts. Click here to request a quote.