Math Practice Help
Math Practice is for a parent or guardian to set up and a child to use. This is the same manual that’s inside the app.
Setting up
You sign in. Your children do not have their own accounts.
- Sign in with Apple or Google.
- Add a student for each child.
- Choose their grade level.
- Hand over the device. They pick their name and start.
Use a nickname, not a full legal name. It is shown on screen, and there is no reason for this app to hold a child’s real name.
Choosing the right level
Grade level sets which topics come up.
- Kindergarten to grade 2: counting, comparing, addition and subtraction, regrouping, money.
- Grades 3 to 5: multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, multi-digit work.
- Grades 6 to 8: integers, ratios, percentages, equations, exponents, roots, Pythagoras, scientific notation.
- Grades 9 to 12: inequalities, slope, quadratics, geometry and area, radicals, polynomials, trigonometry, logarithms.
The Skill Test. If you are unsure of the right level, run the Skill Test rather than guessing. It starts at their grade and moves up or down depending on how they do, then works out the level they are really working at. It takes up to a couple of dozen questions and shows no right or wrong along the way.
Changing a student. Edit, on the student list, changes a nickname, age or grade without losing any history. After a Skill Test it can also reset the level, which is worth doing at the start of a new school year.
60-second test. A speed drill of as many quick sums as they can answer in a minute, with no hints.
Doing problems
A problem appears, they type an answer and submit. Right or wrong is shown straight away, then Next problem moves on.
Show me how is the point of the app. Instead of revealing the answer, it walks through the steps to reach it, so a stuck child gets a method rather than a number. Using it is not cheating. Then Try this problem lets them answer it themselves, and that answer counts in Progress.
For column addition, subtraction and multiplication, the app lays the problem out the way it is taught on paper, with a box for each digit and small boxes above for carries and borrows. Only the final row is submitted, so working it out a different way and getting the right answer still counts.
Progress
Each student has their own progress, broken down by topic, so you can see what is solid and what is not. Look at it by topic rather than by overall score, because an overall percentage hides the one operation that is actually the problem.
How the problems are made
Every problem’s numbers and correct answer are worked out by ordinary arithmetic in code. Grading happens on the server, and the correct answer is not sent to the device until after the answer has been submitted. For exactly what information is stored and what is shared with other services, see the privacy policy.
Settings
Open Settings from the top of the student list. It asks for Face ID or Touch ID first, so a child cannot change things unsupervised. Without them it asks for the device passcode.
- Daily practice reminder: a nudge at a time you choose.
- Delete account: permanently removes your account, every student and all their progress. It asks twice, then asks you to sign in again to confirm. It cannot be undone. If you no longer have the app, you can delete a Google-sign-in account from any browser at math-practice-82w.pages.dev/delete-account.
If something looks wrong
- Too hard or too easy: run the Skill Test.
- An answer was marked wrong that looks right: check the expected form, since fractions may want lowest terms and decimals a particular number of places. If it is genuinely wrong, report it with the problem exactly as shown and the answer given.
- “Show me how” isn’t working: problems and explanations need an internet connection.
- A student’s progress looks empty: check which student is selected, because progress is per student.
- Long-form boxes don’t accept typing: only one digit goes in each box, so tap the box you mean.
Still stuck?
In the app, use Help → Report a problem or idea. It reaches me with your app version and device attached, so I can reproduce it. For anything private, or if you would like a reply, email rdshad@beesbloomsandbytes.com.