How LadderPrep lessons work, from quick check to review

LadderPrep covers ISEE Middle Level math in 67 lessons. Every lesson follows the same routine: a quick check or a teaching video, then a practice set, then review over the following weeks.

Where does my child start in each lesson?

Every LadderPrep lesson starts with either a short quick check, if your child likely knows the topic already, or the teaching video. No lesson is skipped.

The Free Placement Test sets a starting status for each lesson, and the status keeps updating as your child works:

Status	What it means in the app
Known	"Confirmed: right twice, or a passed quick check or practice."
Likely known	"Right once, or a lesson that builds on it was confirmed. A quick check comes first."
To learn	Your child chose "I haven't learned this yet", or later work showed the lesson still needs teaching.
Not checked yet	"Not reached by the short test, or one answer that wasn't right. The plan teaches these."

Lessons marked Known or Likely known start with a quick check, as long as your child hasn't watched the video yet. Without the placement test, lessons start as "Not checked yet", except lessons two or more grades below your child's current grade, which start as Likely known.

Does my child have to do the lessons in order?

No. The LadderPrep study plan schedules the lessons in course order, so earlier lessons come first, but nothing is locked (see all 67 lessons). If your child opens a lesson before finishing an earlier lesson it builds on, a reminder names that earlier lesson and offers "Go to lesson N1 first" or "Continue anyway", with the note "Nothing is locked. You can go ahead either way."

How does the quick check work?

A LadderPrep quick check is a short, timed set of 5 to 8 questions that lets your child show they already know a lesson's topic and go straight to practice.

• Time limit. About 3 to 6½ minutes, depending on the lesson. Once started, the timer keeps running if your child leaves the page.
• One try. "You get one try. You won't see a score, only the result."
• If your child passes (every question right, in time): the video step counts as done, the lesson becomes Known, and practice comes next.
• If not yet: your child sees "No problem. Let's practice this one." and goes to practice first. If practice goes well (at least 3 answers, with 80% of them right), the video step counts as done; otherwise the plan adds the video.

Your child can also start a quick check from the course map on any lesson whose video they haven't watched.

What is in a lesson video?

Every LadderPrep lesson has one teaching video, about 10 to 18 minutes long, split into the same seven chapters: Opening, First problem, Examples (the main teaching), Common mistake, On the ISEE, Challenge, and Wrap-up. For example, lesson N1 includes "Common mistake: the minus sign" and "On the ISEE: multiple choice and quantitative comparison". The chapters are listed under the video so your child can jump to any of them. A video counts as watched once 90% of it has played; skipping ahead doesn't count.

How does practice work?

Each LadderPrep lesson has 10 to 16 practice questions, one per screen. After your child submits the set, they see their total, such as "12 of 15 correct", and for every question their answer, the correct answer, and an explanation. Every missed question also shows:

• The likely mistake. Each wrong answer choice is tied to a common mistake, so a miss tells your child what probably went wrong, for example "Missed. You may have lost or reversed a negative sign."
• "Watch this part." A button such as "Watch this part · Lesson N1" opens the video at the part that teaches the question's skill. That part can be in an earlier lesson.

Missed questions come back in review: "3 missed, they come back in your review".

How do missed questions come back?

When your child misses a practice question, LadderPrep makes the same question due for review 2 days later. If your child gets it right, it is due once more 7 days after that; right again, and it is cleared. A wrong answer at either step starts the 2 days again. The daily review cap (below) decides which day a due question is asked.

• First on Today. Review comes first in your child's "Today" list and gives feedback after each question: "This one comes back later." or "Cleared. You got this one twice."
• Spaced review of finished lessons. Finished lessons come back in review too, usually with a question your child hasn't seen. Lessons finished closer to the test come back sooner, and the number of rounds depends on how practice went and how long the plan is.
• A daily cap. Review is capped at 8 questions a day, fewer on short study days, with at most one question per lesson, oldest first.

When is a lesson done?

A LadderPrep lesson is done once its video step is done and your child has submitted a first practice set with at least one answer; no minimum score is needed. The video step is done when your child watches 90% of the video, passes the quick check, or does well on practice after a missed quick check.

Finishing a lesson is separate from mastering its skills. LadderPrep tracks mastery by skill: a skill is "Mastered" after repeated right answers in practice and review, with no missed question on it still waiting. You see the count on the Progress tab and in the weekly email: "Skills mastered: 12."

How do full-length practice test results change the lessons?

After a full-length math practice test, LadderPrep adds follow-up work for the lessons your child has been taught where the test found misses. "Taught" means your child finished the lesson, passed its quick check, or had it marked Known by the placement test.

• A review question. Each taught lesson with a missed test question gets a review question, due 2 days later. It is usually a question your child hasn't seen, and never the test question itself. The daily cap decides when it is asked.
• One more practice round. After the middle and final scheduled tests, a taught lesson with 2 or more wrong answers on the test gets one more practice set, starting the Monday after the test.
• A note for you. When a lesson gets that extra round and fewer than half of its test questions were right (out of at least 2), your test report also suggests "Rewatch the video first" for that lesson.

Misses on lessons your child hasn't reached yet add no work.

What if my child is still stuck?

When a topic still doesn't click after the video, practice, and review, hearing it explained a second way often helps. Your child's Progress tab and the weekly email show which lessons need more work, and free videos cover the same topics with different examples, for example the Math with Mr. J channel on YouTube and Khan Academy's 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math courses.

You can also tell us which topic was hard through the contact page. We collect these notes and use them to decide which topics get extra, more in-depth lessons next.