How it works
How times tables practice works: type for five minutes.
TimesOwl uses spaced repetition on multiplication facts from 2 × 2 to 12 × 12. Each typed answer changes when that fact comes back.
- Step 1
Covers through 12 × 12
TimesOwl practices all 121 facts from 2 × 2 through 12 × 12. It opens with 8 facts and adds more only when the review pile is small.
- 2 × 2 through 12 × 12
- 121 facts
- Step 2
Practice for five minutes
One fact at a time. Your child types the answer. TimesOwl checks it and records how long it took. A correct answer earns 4 stars.
6 × 9=54 +8 - Step 3
TimesOwl sets the next review
Each fact has its own next-review date. A new one comes back in seconds until it sticks this sitting. A miss starts that over. If 3 × 2 is already solid, it stays out of tonight’s session.
- 7 × 8
- 20 seconds
- 40 seconds
- 1 minute
- 3 minutes
- 1 day
- 3 days
How families use it
Pick one device and keep using it.
That is the usual path. Open TimesOwl and practice. You do not need an email or a password.
Your child has a device
They open the site on their phone or tablet and practice. Same device next time, same progress. You do not need a setup speech.
You have the device
Kitchen tablet, your phone, the living-room laptop: pick one and stay on it. That is how most families do it.
Later, if you need a second device, you can add an email and a password. Most families never do.
One fact
What happens to 7 × 8 after your child answers.
Each fact has its own next review date. An answer on 7 × 8 does not change 6 × 7.
- 7 × 8
- 20 seconds
- 40 seconds
- 1 minute
- 3 minutes
- 1 day
- 3 days
Right, and quick (under 2.5 seconds): a fact they already know jumps out to four days. TimesOwl also raises that fact’s “ease,” so later gaps stretch further.
Right, but slow (up to 8 seconds or beyond): still a pass. A new fact comes back in seconds, then longer gaps in the same sitting, then tomorrow. Slow reviews stay closer until they are fast.
Wrong: the fact comes back in about 10 seconds. A miss during the sitting starts that ladder over. After it holds, it returns tomorrow. Ease drops, so it comes up more often until it is reliably right.
TimesOwl grades from the check and the clock. Your child does not rate the card.
Keeping sessions short
After a missed week, extra overdue facts wait.
At most 25 overdue reviews sit in rotation. The rest queue. The session still ends when the timer hits zero.
- 8facts in the first deck.
- +3new facts added at a time, only while fewer than 15 reviews are waiting.
- 25overdue reviews in rotation at most. Anything extra waits in a queue.
- 5 minis the default. You can pick 1, 2, 5, 10 minutes. When the timer hits zero, practice stops even if facts remain.
Motivation
Correct answers earn stars. Speed can add a few more.
4 stars per correct answer. A fast answer can add up to +4. A miss leaves the star count alone.
- 4 stars for every correct answer.
- Up to +4 extra when the answer comes quickly. There is no countdown on the question.
- +3 on the first answer of the day, and a streak bonus for consecutive days.
- Wrong answers cost nothing. The fact just comes back sooner.
For parents
Due today, recent sessions, facts that slip.
Open Progress when you want a glance at how practice is going.
- How many facts are due today and how many are already sticking.
- Recent sessions: when, how long, how it went.
- Facts that keep slipping.
- Practice stays on the device you use. Pick one and keep using it. Switching devices later is optional. More for parents.
Questions
Accounts, the clock, typing, and session length
Do I need to create an account?
No. Open TimesOwl on the device your child will practice on. Keep using that same phone, tablet, or laptop and they keep their progress. An email and password is only if you later want to switch devices, and most families never add one.
Is it timed? My child panics under a clock.
The session has a clock (1, 2, 5, or 10 minutes) and practice ends when it hits zero. Each question waits. A slow correct answer still passes — the fact just comes back sooner than a quick one. A miss comes back in seconds so they can try it again this sitting.
Why typed answers instead of multiple choice?
School quizzes are a blank line, so typing 56 for 7 × 8 is the same motion. Recalling an answer from an empty box also sticks better than picking it from a list.
How long does a session take?
You pick 1, 2, 5, or 10 minutes. Five is the default. The session ends when that timer ends, not after a set number of cards, and it only includes facts that are due. Extra cards tonight do not replace waiting until a fact is actually due.
Try a five-minute session.
They type, and the first answers get dates. About two minutes before the first fact.