Learn with an AI teacher, at your own pace

Start by finding out precisely where the gaps are — not “bad at math,” but which topics. That is what the pre-test on each grade page is for: three short questions per subject, one per key skill, and every skill comes back marked already known or still to learn. Then work the “still to learn” list, one topic at a time, in short daily sittings. Behind is a list, and lists can be finished. Most families are surprised how short the real list is once the topics a child already knows are checked off instead of re-taught.

Three steps, in order. Step 1 — Pre-test: on the Home index, open the grade your child just finished (or is in), and take the pre-test in each shaky subject. It takes a few minutes per subject and it can only help — a wrong answer costs nothing, it just puts that topic on the learning list. Step 2 — Learn only what's missing: work the flagged topics with the AI-teacher lessons, about 20–30 focused minutes a day. Step 3 — Watch the gaps close: as each topic's lesson check question is answered, that topic leaves the list. When a subject's list is empty, your child has caught up in that subject — then, if time remains in the break, try the next grade's pre-tests for a head start.

No — and please don't make them. Re-teaching a child material they already know is the fastest way to convince them they're “bad at school”: it's boring, it feels like punishment, and it spends the break's limited days on the wrong topics. Schools that run catch-up well repeat only what wasn't passed or learned the first time. The pre-test exists precisely so the known two-thirds of a grade is checked off in minutes, and the break is spent on the third that's actually missing.

Math is the subject where one missing piece does the most damage, because math builds like a tower: fractions hold up ratios, ratios hold up algebra. A student who missed fractions in grade 5 can look “lost” in grade 7 even though exactly one link is broken. The fix is to find the link, not restart the tower. Take the math pre-test on the grade page — and if nearly everything is flagged, step down one grade and pre-test there too. Repair the lowest missing link first; the topics above it often start making sense within days.

Reading gaps hide inside every other subject — a child who reads slowly struggles in science and history too, because the textbook is the barrier. The repair is unglamorous and it works: a little reading every single day (short is fine — finishing matters more than length), plus small, frequent writing instead of rare big assignments. Use the English pre-test to find whether the gap is understanding what's read, building an argument, or vocabulary — each has a different fix, and the lessons here target the one your child actually has.

Less than most parents fear. 20–30 focused minutes a day, most days, beats a three-hour Saturday marathon — memory consolidates between sittings, and a child who dreads the sessions learns at half speed. One topic a day is a good rhythm: over a four-week break that's roughly twenty topics, which is more than most students' entire gap list. Keep the same time each day, keep it short enough to end on a success, and let the rest of the break be a break.

Yes — this is the use the school was designed around. Breaks are when catch-up actually fits: no homework competing, no new material arriving daily, and a natural deadline (the first day back) that everyone understands. Run the pre-tests in the first few days of the break, work one topic a day through the middle, and spend the last week on the “Get Ready” path — the next grade's pre-tests — so your child walks back in having already seen what the new year assumes they know.

Normal — gaps travel together, often because one root cause (a rough term, an illness, a move, a teacher change) hit everything at once. Don't split each day four ways. Pick one subject at a time, or alternate days (math Monday/Wednesday, English Tuesday/Thursday). Start with reading if reading is one of the gaps — it unlocks the others. And keep the total day short: two 20-minute sittings on different subjects is plenty; more than that usually buys resistance, not learning.

Watch the lists, not a grade book. Every topic in every subject sits in one of three states you can see on the grade page: already known (checked off by the pre-test), still to learn (flagged by the pre-test), or lesson finished (learned and checked here). Catch-up is working when the “still to learn” list visibly shrinks week to week — the “Your break so far” panel above keeps that relearn list. If a topic stays stuck after two honest attempts, that's information too: that one may need a human tutor's eyes, and now you know exactly which topic to show them.

The four core subjects in every state and every grade 3–12 are English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies / History. On top of those, most states expect health and PE, art or music, a world language in high school, and growing computer-science options. All eight are included here.

Mostly, with local flavor. Most states base English and math on similar national frameworks, science on the Next Generation Science Standards or a state version of them, and each state adds its own history — your state’s history is usually taught in 4th–5th grade and again in middle or high school. That is why the state picker matters: topics here follow the common national pattern, and your state panel shows where your state is specific.

Yes — that is the point of the grade index. Grade 3 gets its own page with bigger text, shorter readings, and hands-on math like multiplication and simple fractions. By grade 12 the same subjects are senior-level: research writing, statistics or pre-calculus, physics or an elective science, and government and economics. Each grade page starts with pre-tests, so both students skip whatever they already know.

Change the state picker. Core subjects transfer well — Algebra I is Algebra I everywhere — but credit totals and a few required courses (state history, health, financial literacy) differ. The compare list in section 3 shows both states side by side.