The Parent's Quick-Start Guide to MathFactLab

Thank you for choosing MathFactLab. The goal of this guide is to help you and your child(ren) get started with MathFactLab right away.

Table of Contents

• Creating Student Accounts
• Generating Login Cards
• Logging in as a Student
• The Placement Test
• The Student Experience
• A Brief Overview of MathFactLab
• Monitoring Progress
• Adjusting Settings

Creating Student Accounts for Your Child(ren)

To begin using MathFactLab, your child(ren) will need their own student accounts.

To create an account:

1. Make sure you are on the Students tab.
2. Click the green + button in the top-right corner.

3. Enter your child's last and first name.
4. A username and password will be automatically generated. You can change these if you wish.

5. A class code will be automatically generated for your family. Your child(ren) will need this to log into their accounts.
6. MathFactLab offers two learning modes: Students either work on Addition/Subtraction or Multiplication/Division.  Select the learning mode that you would like your child to work on. 
   1. As learning multiplication facts requires fluency with addition facts, we recommend mastery of the basic addition facts before moving on to multiplication facts. 
7. When you’ve made your selection, just click ‘Add Student’ on the top right and these details will be saved.   

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Generating Login Cards

Before your child can log in, they'll need their login credentials. To generate login cards for your child, please follow the steps below:

1. Select the Students tab.  
2. Click the 'Actions' dropdown in the top right
3. Select 'Generate Login Cards'.

4. A pdf with the login cards for your child(ren) will be generated. By selecting the destination dropdown, you can choose to either print the cards or save them as a pdf.  You can, of course, also just take a photo or screenshot of the card.

5. The login card provides all the information students need to log into their MathFactLab account:
   1. Web address: app.mathfactlab.com
   2. Username
   3. Password
   4. Class code

Logging in as a Student

1. If your child will be using your device, first you will need to log out of your MathFactLab account. You can do this by clicking your profile in the top right.
2. Your child should go to app.mathfactlab.com.
3. At first, your child may only see fields for username and password. Don't worry. You're in the right place.
4. Have your child enter the credentials listed on their username and password.
5. The system will then recognize the account as a student account and ask for your child's class code.
6. Your browser will most likely ask if you'd like these saved. Selecting 'Yes' will make logging in easier in the future for your child.

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The Placement Test

When students log in for the first time, they are welcomed with a brief introduction to the program and are then given a placement test. This test determines which level seems the best starting point for the student.

After the placement test, students learn their starting level.

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The Student Experience

After clicking 'Let's Get Started', students are brought to the student dashboard.  Here, the child will work on a series of activities and strategies.  Each selection will be accompanied by visual models to help your child better understand the math facts that they are working on. 

When all of the activities have been completed (green checkmarks in the corner of each), the ‘Level Lifter’ button unlocks, and your child can choose to take this assessment.  When students demonstrate sufficient ability with the facts learned at this level, they are promoted to the next level. If not yet ready, the child will be returned to the same level’s dashboard for additional practice.    

To unlock the Level Lifter again, students need to score 900 points on one activity from each operation. This means students can focus on the activities that work best for them.

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A Brief Overview of MathFactLab

What separates MathFactLab from its competitors is our research-based focus on strategies and models. Other programs are typically just glorified memorization, an approach proven to be ineffective.

• MathFactLab helps students learn new math facts by helping students conceive of them in multiple ways and build new facts by combining previously learned facts.
• MathFactLab students learn addition and subtraction simultaneously. Likewise, students learn division facts while learning multiplication facts. This helps our students recognize the relationships between these facts and learn them faster.
• MathFactLab students progress through a series of levels. The basic levels we consider essential. The advanced levels are for those needing an extra challenge.
• To make good progress, we recommend students aim to complete 3 or more sessions per week.

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Monitoring Progress

Parents can easily monitor student progress by logging into their parent account. Doing so, you'll be able to see your child's:

• Initial and current levels
• Placement test results (by clicking the 3-dots action button)
• Results from the most recent Level Lifters (by clicking the child's current level)
• A log of each session (by clicking 'Usage Stats')

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Adjusting Settings

You have many options for adjusting settings to best meet the needs of your child(ren):

• Adjust session length from 5 to 20 minutes
• Change the response rate for an answer to be considered fluent.
• Allow greater flexibility on Level Lifters.
• Unlock Level Lifters when a student appears ready.
• Give Level Lifters interviews.

All of these changes can be made on your parent dashboard by either clicking either the edit icon or the 3-dots icon on your child's line.

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Wish to learn more? The articles below go into details of your account in more depth.