As Happy Numbers grows, we’re ready to take the next step in supporting foundational math skills. 

We’ve developed a fully integrated system for building math fact fluency — one that fits smoothly into each student’s learning path and builds skills automatically in the background. This new feature helps students in Grades 1–5 build accuracy and speed with core math facts, setting them up for confident, independent work.

Now, math fact fluency is built right into the student experience and provides a structured, automated, and fun way to provide short, targeted practice.

Fact fluency is a necessary and important part of math education. While conceptual understanding helps students develop number sense, fact fluency affects their accuracy and speed in tackling more complex topics.

Math fluency also supports a wide range of foundational skills, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Research indicates that, in terms of fluency, the frequency of practice is more valuable than longer but less regular practice. That’s why we developed this solution: math fact fluency in short, game-like practice sessions built into the student’s weekly learning routine.

We recommend that students spend about 45 minutes weekly on core curriculum activities. To support this, we’ve built a balanced structure that pairs regular instruction with short, focused fluency practice.

Fluency sessions appear every 15 minutes of curriculum work, following a consistent 15–2–15–2–15–5 pattern that supports steady progress without overload. After every 15 minutes of educational work, students complete 2 minutes of fluency practice focused on their current needs. After another 15-minute block, they receive another 2-minute fluency session. Once they reach their weekly target, they unlock a 5-minute fluency round. This rhythm continues — 15 minutes of curriculum followed by fluency — until the end of the week. Every Monday, the cycle starts again.

To keep learning smooth and uninterrupted, fluency practice begins only after a student finishes their current task. If they’re still working at the 15-minute mark, we wait until they complete that activity before starting the fluency session.

We’ve created  three levels of math fact fluency activities, each aligned with a different stage in the student’s fluency development:

This level is all about learning the facts. Students focus on accuracy without any time pressure, taking as much time as they need to understand and recall each fact. Set in a playful dungeon setting, students help their knight move forward by solving math problems. If a mistake is made, the correct answer is shown, and the student retypes it before moving on, reinforcing understanding through repetition and support.

In this level, students build speed and accuracy under gentle time constraints. A cozy animal-themed scene provides encouraging feedback. Students have up to 15 seconds to solve each fact in Grades 1-2, and up to 10 seconds in Grades 3–5, with a non-stressful timer that counts up instead of down. If they answer too slowly or incorrectly, the fact is marked for review and practiced again later without the timer.

This stage comes after students have practiced their facts under time constraints in the previous level. If some facts weren’t answered correctly and quickly enough, in Number Gym, students return to these facts without a timer, focusing purely on accuracy. It’s a chance to strengthen specific skills before they’re reintroduced in timed practice, making the path to fluency more supportive and personalized.

This design supports a step-by-step fluency journey: students first build accuracy without time pressure. Only after mastering the facts at that level do they move on to practice them with time constraints. If they struggle under time pressure, the facts are sent for additional practice before being reintroduced, ensuring students are always working at a level that supports success.

Students are placed at an appropriate level in the trajectory based on their placement test results. If a student struggles with a topic, they are guided back to earlier levels to build skills without time pressure before progressing again. Each fact is also tracked individually, ensuring students fully master the skill from all angles.

Teachers have access to two new reports to monitor student progress and guide each learner along their fluency path:

A class-wide overview showing overall mastery across operations. You’ll also see time spent per topic and receive alerts when students struggle significantly, helping you spot those who may need additional support.

A detailed view of each student’s progress. See exactly which facts are Mastered, In Progress, or Not Started, broken down by domains, skills, and facts. 

For Students: Math fluency helps students develop confidence with math facts in a low-pressure, engaging format. As they build speed and accuracy, students begin to see success independently, reducing anxiety, boosting motivation, and turning complex problems into manageable steps.

For Teachers: Fluency Reports provide a clear view of student progress across key skill areas. With real-time data on mastery and time spent, teachers can quickly identify where support is needed, track growth over time, and ensure each student is building the fluency foundation needed for success.

We’re Here to Support You

We’re excited to bring this feature to your classroom. Fluency games combine structure and fun to help students build lasting math confidence. If you have questions or feedback, please reach out to us at support@happynumbers.com.

Explore fluency games today and help your students master math facts with confidence, clarity, and joy.