The program
Here is how Carry the One Math compares with the two things most families try first.
| Carry the One Math | In-center programs | Private tutors | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost | First month free, then $20 a month for the first kid, $15/each for up to three siblings | $150 to $350 a month per child | $40 to $80+ an hour, often $160 to $320+ a month |
| Your time each week | Typically 10 to 20 minutes: print, start the sittings, snap photos | Often 2+ hours driving there and back, and waiting, for two visits | Scheduling, plus driving if the tutor isn't online |
| Problems set at your child's level | Yes, rebuilt every week from their last pages | Usually, but not aimed at your child's specific gaps | Yes |
| Word problems about your child's life | Yes: their name, people, pets and interests | No | Rarely |
| Parent-supervised | Yes, you're at the table | No, it's drop-off | Sometimes |
| In your home, on your schedule | Yes | No, you drive and wait | Sometimes |
| Pencil and paper, no screens for your child | Yes | Mostly | Online tutoring is on a screen |
| You see every page and every result | Yes, plus a weekly report | Limited | Depends on the tutor |
| Reviews skills on a schedule so they stick | Yes: after about 3, 7, 14 and 30 days | Varies | Varies |
Prices for other options are typical ranges and vary by city.
What's in a week
A packet takes about 20 minutes, split into short sittings. Here's what's inside.
One new skill your child is ready for, with a two-minute box that tells you how to teach it.
A few problems on skills your child probably knows but hasn't shown on paper yet. If one is shaky, it becomes the next thing to teach.
Skills from earlier weeks come back, mixed on one page, so they stay learned.
A short timed page of math facts, from easy sums up to times tables, one level at a time.
See a real week
These pages were made by the same program that builds your child's. Violet is a made-up 2nd grader: her family told us about soccer, dance class, and Sunday baking with Grandma Rose.
The K–5 skills map
We broke the K–5 Common Core math standards into 207 skills your child can show on paper. Each one is linked to the skills it builds on. The check-up finds your child's place on this map, and each week's plan moves them forward from there.
| K | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number & place value | Count objects to 20, one to oneTen framesRead and write numerals 0 to 20Count to 100 by ones and tensCompare groups and numbers to 10Story problems within 10Teen numbers as ten and some onesOrdinal numbers, first through eighthRepeating patterns, what comes nextCount forward from any numberSort objects by kind and count them | Growing number patternsCount, read, and write to 120Count backwardsTens and ones, compose and decompose 2-digit numbersRead base-ten blocks, tens and onesCompare 2-digit numbers with <, >, =2-digit plus 1-digit, and plus a multiple of ten | Hundreds, tens, and ones; a hundred is ten tensRead base-ten blocks, hundreds, tens, and onesNumerals, number names, and expanded form to 1,000Count within 1,000; skip-count by 5, 10, and 100Compare 3-digit numbers with <, >, and =Add or subtract 10 or 100 mentallyOdd and even numbersWhole numbers and sums on a number lineJumps on a number line | Roman numeralsRound to the nearest 10 or 100 | Place value to 1,000,000; each place is ten times the one to its rightNumerals, names, and expanded form to 1,000,000Compare multi-digit numbersRound to any place | Place value with decimals; each place is ten times the one to its rightMultiply and divide by powers of tenPowers-of-ten facts from memoryRead and write decimals to thousandthsDecimals on a number lineCompare decimals to thousandthsRound decimals to any placeMultiply multi-digit numbers with the standard algorithmDivide by a two-digit divisorAdd and subtract decimals to hundredthsMultiply decimalsDivide decimals |
| Add & subtract | Number bonds, decompose numbers to 10Pairs that make 10Add within 5Subtract within 5Add and subtract within 10 | Sums within 10 from memoryDoubles and doubles plus oneDifferences within 10 from memoryAdd within 20 with make-ten and doublesSubtract within 20 with strategiesMissing addend and the meaning of equalsTrue or false equationsSubtract multiples of tenAdd three numbersTurn-around facts and making ten inside a sumSubtraction as a missing addendFact families for addition and subtractionCount on and count back to add and subtract | Sums within 20 from memoryDifferences within 20 from memoryAdd within 100 with place-value strategiesSubtract within 100 with place-value strategies2-digit plus 2-digit, written, with regrouping2-digit minus 2-digit, written, with regroupingAdd up to four 2-digit numbersMixed addition and subtraction facts within 203-digit addition, no regrouping3-digit addition, regroup ones and tens3-digit subtraction, no regrouping3-digit subtraction, regroup once3-digit subtraction, regroup twice | Subtract across zerosFluent add and subtract within 1,000Estimate sums and differences by rounding | Standard algorithm, multi-digit addition and subtraction | |
| Multiply & divide | Arrays and repeated addition | Products as equal groupsQuotients as sharing and groupingMultiplication facts for 2, 5, and 10Multiplication facts for 3 and 4Find the missing operation signMultiplication facts for 6, 7, 8, and 9All multiplication facts to 10 x 10 from memoryDivision facts as unknown factorMixed multiplication and division factsFact families for multiplication and divisionCommutative, associative, and distributive propertiesUnknown in a multiplication or division equationPatterns in the multiplication table1-digit times multiples of ten | Multiplication facts for 11 and 12Multiplicative comparison, "times as many"2-digit times 1-digit with area model and partial products2-digit divided by 1-digit, no remainderDivision with remaindersInterpret remainders in contextFactor pairs and multiples to 100Prime and composite numbers3- and 4-digit times 1-digit2-digit times 2-digitUp to 4-digit divided by 1-digitEstimate quotients with compatible numbersEstimate products | Evaluate expressions with parentheses and bracketsInterpret expressions without evaluating themTwo numerical patterns and the relationship between them | ||
| Fractions & decimals | Halves, thirds, and fourths of shapes | Unit fractions; a/b as copies of 1/bFractions on a number lineEquivalent fractions with modelsWhole numbers as fractionsCompare fractions with the same numerator or the same denominator | Equivalent fractions by doublingEquivalent fractions by multiplying numerator and denominatorCompare unlike fractions with common denominators or benchmarksDecompose a fraction into a sum of fractionsAdd and subtract fractions with like denominatorsMixed numbers and improper fractionsAdd and subtract mixed numbers with like denominatorsFraction word problemsFraction times a whole numberTenths as hundredthsDecimal notation for tenths and hundredthsCompare decimals to hundredths | Add and subtract fractions with unlike denominatorsAdd and subtract mixed numbers with unlike denominatorsEstimate fraction sums and differences with benchmarksFraction addition and subtraction word problemsA fraction is a divisionMultiply a fraction by a fraction or a whole numberArea of a rectangle with fractional sidesMultiplication as scalingFraction multiplication word problemsDivide unit fractions by whole numbers and whole numbers by unit fractionsUnit-fraction division word problems | ||
| Measure, time, money, data | Compare length and weight directly | Read a calendar, days and monthsTen more and ten less mentallyTime to the hour and half hourMeasure length with nonstandard unitsOrganize and read data in three categoriesRead tally chartsOrder three objects by length | Calendar problemsMeasure and estimate length, choose unitsHow much longerPicture graphs and bar graphsLine plots with whole unitsTime to five minutes, a.m. and p.m.Count coins and bills; money word problemsMaking change and having enoughLength word problems | Read a thermometerMeasure to the half and quarter inchTime to the minuteElapsed timeGrams, kilograms, liters; one-step problemsArea as unit squares, by countingPerimeter and finding an unknown sideScaled picture and bar graphsArea of a rectangle by multiplyingArea of composite rectangles | Money problems with decimalsUnit relationships; larger to smaller unitsLine plots with halves, quarters, and eighthsAngles and degrees as turnsMeasure angles with a protractorAdd and subtract angle measuresRectangle area and perimeter formulas, appliedMeasurement problems with fractions and decimals | Convert within a measurement system, including to larger units and decimalsLine plots with fractions, and operations on the dataVolume as unit cubesVolume of a rectangular prism, V = l × w × hVolume of two boxes joined togetherVolume word problems |
| Shapes | Name and describe shapesName solid shapesCompare shapes by sides and corners | What makes a shape a triangle, square, rectangle, or hexagonHalves and fourths of shapes | Identify and draw shapes by attributesPartition a rectangle into rows and columns of squares | Rhombus, rectangle, square as quadrilateralsPartition shapes into equal areas as unit fractions | Points, lines, segments, rays, parallel and perpendicularLines of symmetryClassify figures by lines and angles | Points on the coordinate planeDistances and problems on the coordinate planeClassify two-dimensional figures in a hierarchy |
| Word problems | Word problems within 20 | Input-output tables with addition and subtractionOne-step add or subtract word problems, all unknown positionsTwo-step add and subtract word problems | One-step multiply or divide word problemsTwo-step word problems, four operations, check reasonablenessUnknowns in equations | Input-output tables with all four operationsMultiplicative comparison word problemsMulti-step word problems with a letter for the unknownNumber and shape patterns that follow a rule |
Your child's weekly report uses this same map. Each skill fills in as your child learns it.
Choose the support
Every child is different, and so is every week. Change it any time.
One short packet a week, about 10 minutes in a few tiny sittings. Good for young kids and busy seasons.
One packet a week, about 25 minutes in three sittings. One new skill at a time.
Two packets a week, about 25 minutes each. Two new skills at a time, and the second packet reacts to the first within the same week.
The research
We use technology where it helps most: reading your child's pages, finding the mistake behind a wrong answer, and planning what comes next. The learning itself happens on paper, because that's where the evidence points.
Five-year-olds who practiced letters by hand later showed activity in the brain's reading circuit when they saw those letters. Children who typed or traced them did not.
James & Engelhardt, Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 2012.
Brain recordings of students writing by hand showed far richer connections between brain regions tied to memory than when the same students typed.
Van der Weel & Van der Meer, Frontiers in Psychology, 2024. A study of university students.
A review of 54 studies with more than 170,000 readers found better understanding on paper than on screens, especially for information-heavy text. The gap grew over the years studied.
Delgado and colleagues, Educational Research Review, 2018.
About two out of three students in OECD countries say devices distract them in at least some math lessons. Students distracted by classmates' devices scored lower in math.
OECD, PISA 2022 results, 2023. A survey link, not proof of cause.
Across hundreds of experiments, practice spread over time was remembered better than the same practice crammed together. That's why skills come back for review after about 3, 7, 14 and 30 days, in the next packet after each is due.
Cepeda and colleagues, Psychological Bulletin, 2006.
Seventh graders who practiced mixed types of math problems scored higher, right away and a month later, than students who practiced one type at a time. Our review pages mix skills on purpose.
Rohrer, Dedrick & Stershic, Journal of Educational Psychology, 2015.
Research describes what tends to work across many children. Every child is different, which is why every packet is rebuilt from your child's own pages.
Price
The check-up is free, and so is the first month of weekly packets. No card needed to start.
A learning plan built from your child's own work, new printed lessons and answer keys every week, photo grading, a weekly progress report, and the full kindergarten to 5th grade skills map.
Every child gets their own check-up, their own plan and their own report. Cancel any time.