Guide
Helping your child with math — without a fight at the kitchen table
The most effective way to help a primary-school child with math is short, daily practice with pencil and paper — not long weekend marathons and not endless tapping in an app. This guide gathers what learning research and practice actually show works.
The questions parents ask most
Practising times tables
Ten minutes a day, split cleverly into review, a new table and a mixed round, beats any long weekend session. Here's how to build times-table fluency table by table.
Read the post →Explaining crossing ten
37 + 25 is the first real conceptual hurdle for many second-graders. With the right intermediate step — to the ten first, then onward — it becomes manageable.
Read the post →Paper or app?
Learning apps promise a lot, but research points the other way: active recall with a pencil consolidates knowledge more than tapping answer options.
Read the post →Screen time with purpose
Not all screen minutes are equal. An honest framework for when the screen genuinely helps learning — and when it's just eating time.
Read the post →Grade-2 math
Numbers to 100, crossing ten, times tables: the core topics of grade 2 at a glance, with one-sentence checks for the kitchen table.
Read the post →Reading response times
Right or wrong is only half the truth. The time it takes to answer reveals whether your child is recalling a fact or still computing it.
Read the post →
Questions parents ask
- What's the best way to help my child with times tables?
- Short, daily ten-minute sessions beat long weekend marathons — spaced repetition consolidates knowledge far better than cramming, according to learning research. Our 10-minute plan shows exactly how, table by table.
- How much screen time is okay for learning?
- Professional bodies suggest a rough orientation of 45 to 60 minutes of free screen time per day for primary-school age. For practice itself, the screen only earns its place where it beats paper — a targeted explanation, say — the actual practice belongs on paper.
- What is an AI tutor for primary school?
- An AI tutor pairs a short digital diagnostic with tailored practice material. For Talentists Tutor that means a 5-minute check on a device, then a printed workbook — the screen stays silent until your child scans a QR code to ask for help.
- Is paper or a learning app better for practising math?
- For the actual practice, research shows a clear edge for paper: active recall instead of tapping options, visible working, and no notification-driven distraction. The screen is strongest for diagnosis and a targeted explanation.
- How do I know if my child has really mastered a topic?
- Response time reveals more than right or wrong: if the answer comes in about three seconds without counting, it's retrievable knowledge. If it takes longer, your child is still computing — completely normal, but a sign to keep practising in short sessions.
- What should my child be able to do by the end of grade 2?
- Confidently work within numbers to 100, add and subtract crossing ten, and recall the 2, 5 and 10 times tables. Column arithmetic and the extended times tables come in later grades.
Where does your child stand right now?
The 5-minute check shows which topics are solid and which wobble — and turns the result into a personalised workbook. No sign-up.