Multiplication facts that last past tonight’s homework
A child can draw 7 groups of 8 and still stall when the worksheet is just the numbers. Automatic recall is a separate skill, and Thursday’s quiz is scoring that skill.
Why a fact can vanish by quiz day
The concept can be fine while recall is still slow. Automatic recall is built by pulling the answer out of memory, with growing gaps, until 7 × 8 costs almost nothing. Another explanation of grouping will not make 7 × 8 cheaper on Friday.
A fact can look learned on Tuesday because it was practiced in the moment. By Friday it has faded, because nobody asked for it in between at the moment it was getting thin.
Give each fact its own next date
If 9 × 6 comes back quickly, that fact can wait a while. If 7 × 8 takes a few seconds, it should show up again soon. A stack of paper cards loses those dates by Wednesday. Software can keep a next-ask date on every fact.
Once the dates run themselves, you are looking for five minutes. Nobody is rebuilding a deck on Sunday night.
What TimesOwl does
9 × 6 can wait if it came back fast. TimesOwl pulls 7 × 8 in again within a couple of days, so tonight’s list is only what is due.
- 7 × 8
- 20 seconds
- 40 seconds
- 1 minute
- 3 minutes
- 1 day
- 3 days
A correct 7 × 8 might wait days. A miss shows up again in the next session or two.
Try five minutes before the worksheet.
They type a few answers. Open it on one device. A session is about five minutes.