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Recommendations for Use with First Grade Students
Updated for 2026-27
To help first graders succeed with MathFactLab, we suggest the following:
- A thorough introduction to the program.
- Our Introductory Videos for Students will prove very helpful for this.
- Teachers can use Teaching Tools to familiarize students with the models they will encounter.
- Teacher familiarity with our differentiation tools: Our default settings may not always be ideal for first graders, so teachers and instructional coaches should be familiar with the tools available to adjust difficulty levels, required response rate, and activity visibility.
- Active monitoring and support: Young students benefit from close supervision as they work through activities and assessments.
- Basic math foundations: Students should already have a basic understanding of addition and subtraction, as well as plenty of experience solving single-digit problems using manipulatives, before using MathFactLab.
- Developmentally appropriate response rate: First graders have a default response rate of 6 seconds per problem to allow additional time to respond. This will not be appropriate for all students. Some will need more time.
- Familiarity with ten frames:
- To keep things simple for our youngest students, by default, students in first grade practice basic addition and subtraction facts only with our ten frames activities: Ten Frames addition, Ten Frames subtraction, and Missing Addend.
- Activities using other models, such as number lines, number racks, and double-bar diagrams, are hidden by default but can be shown by following these steps.
- Shorter Sessions: Teachers may wish to keep sessions to ten minutes or less.
If students are unable to complete the placement test in one sitting, they can take it in sections. They will be brought back to the section of the assessment where they left off the next time they log in.
When should first graders start using MathFactLab?
Most often, first graders are not ready to begin using MathFactLab at the start of the school year. Teachers typically wait until students have developed essential foundational skills and are comfortable with classroom routines. Based on teacher feedback, many first-grade classes begin using MathFactLab about two to three months into the school year.
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