Recommended Student Usage per Week

In general, in order for students to make real growth in their fact fluency, we recommend that they complete three or more sessions (of at least 10 minutes) per week. Of course, like with most things, the more frequently students are able to practice, the greater the gains they'll make.

My colleagues and I, who are now in our third year using MathFactLab, typically start the school year by having our students complete a session each day.  That way, we can get them in shape for the year as quickly as possible.  After about six to eight weeks, we begin to taper that down.  

If three days per week is unrealistic in your situation, just do what you can and try to make practice consistent. Realistically, however, one day per week is more likely to be a maintenance dose than a means for growth. Keep in mind, also, that any practice is better than none.

Third grade teachers, who probably wish to both ensure that their students have mastery of the addition/subtraction facts and help them begin to build fluency with multiplication/division facts, may wish to have students complete more than three sessions per week throughout the year. Some third-grade teachers that I have spoken with will have their students complete two shorter sessions per day: one of addition/subtraction followed by one of multiplication division. Some alternate back and forth on a weekly basis. (Switching between modes can easily be done with the 'Group Edit' function.) Other third-grade teachers hit addition/subtraction for the first third of the year and then switch to multiplication/division after sufficient strategy instruction and hands-on practice has taken place in the classroom.