For your child
The right next skill
Short practice matched to their mastery map, a few minutes at a time.
Hints, not answers
When they’re stuck, a question that points the way.
Progress they can see
A ring fills as each skill becomes secure.
Technology
Technology that knows where your child is. Mentors who know who they are.
Your child’s mentor works with the Hikmah platform. It tracks every skill against the Ontario curriculum, finds each gap and prepares the practice, so the mentor’s time goes to your child.
The Hikmah platform is in development. This page shows how it is designed to work.
At a glance
It does the tracking. The mentor does the teaching.
A tool for the mentor, built so your child’s next step is never a guess. Here is what it does, and what it never does.
For the mentor
A mastery map for every child
Every skill, mapped to the Ontario curriculum and kept current.
Gaps traced to the root
A missed question points back to the earlier skill to check.
Return visits, scheduled
Mastered skills come back weeks later, so they last.
It never
- Replaces your child’s mentor
- Gives your child an answer to copy
- Changes a plan without a mentor’s review
- Sells your child’s data or uses it for advertising
- Ranks children against each other
A person always has the last word.
Our design commitments for the platform, which is in development.
How it connects
One system, built around one child.
Each part feeds the next, with the mentor in the middle. Select a part to see what it does.
Diagnostic
A friendly first assessment that finds where your child really is.
- Takes in
- Your child’s answers, and how they got there
- Passes on
- A first map of what is secure
Mastery map
Every skill and the skills beneath it, kept current for your child.
- Takes in
- The diagnostic, then every check
- Passes on
- What to practise next
Adaptive practice
Short lessons matched to the next skill, with hints rather than answers.
- Takes in
- The next skill from the map
- Passes on
- Work ready for a check
Mastery checks
Fresh questions now, and return visits weeks later so skills last.
- Takes in
- Finished practice
- Passes on
- Mastered, or traced to a root
Mentor
The person who knows your child. Reads the map, adjusts the plan, has the last word.
- Takes in
- The map, and what they see in the room
- Passes on
- A plan, a project, a conversation
Projects
Real work for a real audience, where mastered skills come together.
- Takes in
- Mastered skills
- Passes on
- A piece for the portfolio
Progress update
A note in plain words: what changed, why and what’s next.
- Takes in
- The mentor’s notes and the portfolio
- Passes on
- A family that knows, and can reply
Mastery map and root-cause loop
Find the gap. Fix the root.
The map links every skill to the skills beneath it. When one wobbles, it shows which earlier skill to check.
Mapped to the Ontario curriculum
Lined up with what your child is taught at school.
Personal to your child
Built from their diagnostic and every check since.
Always current
It changes as your child learns.
Why trace back
Early skills predict later ones: in large U.S. and U.K. studies, fractions and division in elementary school predicted high school algebra five or six years later.
Maya · Mastery graph
Root found
Multiplication facts
Grade 3 · Rests on
What her mentor does nextThree short lessons on the 6, 7 and 8 times tables, with patterns she can see, then a fresh check.
Then the loop fixes it, and makes it stick.
Why a loop
Using frequent checks to adjust the teaching is linked to substantial learning gains.
Black and Wiliam (1998) (opens in a new tab)Kulik, Kulik and Bangert-Drowns (1990) (opens in a new tab)
Check
A short mastery check.
An example
Ben, Grade 6, misses two questions on adding fractions with unlike denominators.
Trace
Find the skill underneath.
An example
Working backwards, the platform checks equivalent fractions, then multiplication facts. The 6s and 7s are the first skills that aren’t secure.
Teach
A focused lesson on the root.
An example
A short lesson on those facts, with patterns he can see, then a little daily practice.
Recheck
Fresh questions, same skill.
An example
Fresh questions on adding fractions, ones he hasn’t seen. This time they come back clean.
Revisit
A return visit, weeks later.
An example
A few weeks later, fractions come back in his practice to make sure the skill held.
Illustrative example.
Practice
Short practice, in the order that makes it last.
The platform prepares your child’s practice in four moves, each drawn from research on how memory works.
A worked example first.
A new kind of problem starts with the thinking shown step by step, so your child sees how before trying alone.
Why it works
Worked examples help most early on; as skill grows, the support should fade.
Atkinson and colleagues (2000) (opens in a new tab)Kalyuga and colleagues (2003) (opens in a new tab)
Their turn, with a hint if needed.
Your child solves a similar problem and says how. If they’re stuck, the hint is a question, not the answer.
Why it works
Explaining their reasoning helped learners across 64 studies, and feedback that carries more information, about the task, how to do it and how to check yourself, helps most.
Bisra and colleagues (2018) (opens in a new tab)Wisniewski, Zierer and Hattie (2020) (opens in a new tab)
Mixed practice, once it’s secure.
New and older problem types are shuffled together, so your child learns to choose the method, not just repeat it.
Why it works
In 54 Grade 7 math classes, mixed practice led to 61% on a surprise test a month later, against 38%.
Return visits, weeks later.
Mastered skills come back as quick recall questions, further apart each time, so they hold until the next grade needs them.
Why it works
Spread-out practice lasts longer than cramming, and recalling beats rereading.
Cepeda and colleagues (2006) (opens in a new tab)Roediger and Karpicke (2006) (opens in a new tab)
Illustrative screen. The Hikmah platform is in development.
Four views, one child
Everyone sees what they need.
Choose anything with a number, or take the guided tour.
Maya · Grade 5
12 min todayFractions on a number line
Question 1 of 3
Where does 3/4 go?
Tap where it goes on the line.
Yes. Four equal jumps, and you counted three of them.Not quite. Count the equal jumps from 0. How many make 3/4?
What does the 4 in 3/4 tell you about the jumps from 0 to 1?
Where does 2/3 go?
Tap where it goes on the line.
That’s it. Two of three equal jumps.Close. Check that every jump is the same size, then count two.
Split the line into 3 equal jumps first. Then count.
Where does 5/6 go?
Tap where it goes on the line.
Right. One jump short of 1.Not yet. Start from 1 and go back one sixth.
Is 5/6 closer to 0 or to 1? How far is it from 1?
Today’s session
- Warm-up3 min
- Number line6 min
- Mastery check4 min
- Project time15 min
Mastery
62%
Fractions on a line
3/6 in a row
Mastery check after six in a row
Up next
Comparing fractions
Your project
Market day budget
Price list due Friday
Step 2 of 4
Illustrative screen. The Hikmah platform is in development.
Short lessons, then real work.
What you’re looking at
Group 5A · Tuesday
Mastery map
Equivalent fractionsCompareAdd, likeAdd, unlikeWord problemsExplain it
Just now
- MMaya finished a mastery check on adding like fractions2 min
- CChloé wrote how she set her market day prices9 min
- DDev asked for a hint on a word problem14 min
Root found
Multiplication facts
Ben, Priya
Today
- 3:30Diagnostic recapMaya and her dad
- 4:00Group: comparing fractionsBen, Priya, Dev
- 4:40Project check-inSafer bike lanes
- Thu 4:00New group: Multiplication factsBen, Priya
- Thu 4:00New group: Number sentences from wordsBen, Dev, Priya
On the project wall
- Bike-lane map v3
- Family survey results
- Letter to council (draft)
Learner profile
Maya
Grade 5
Math
Reading
Writing
Focus now
Adding fractions with unlike denominators
Mentor note
Explains her thinking clearly. Ready to stretch on word problems.
Next steps
- Mastery check on adding unlike fractions
- Price list for the market day project
- Diagnostic recap with her dad, today 3:30
Learner profile
Ben
Grade 5
Math
Reading
Writing
Focus now
Multiplication facts, the 6s and 7s
Mentor note
Fractions keep slipping. The trace shows why: the facts underneath aren’t secure yet.
Next steps
- Small group on multiplication facts, Thursday
- Fresh check on equivalent fractions
- Then back to adding fractions
Learner profile
Chloé
Grade 5
Math
Reading
Writing
Focus now
Word problems with fractions
Mentor note
Strong on the skills. Working on choosing which one a problem needs.
Next steps
- Two word problems a session, said aloud first
- Explain-it card for her project
- Check in on Friday
Learner profile
Dev
Grade 6
Math
Reading
Writing
Focus now
Reading a word problem into a number sentence
Mentor note
Calculates well, rushes the reading. Slowing down the first read helps.
Next steps
- Join the word-problems group
- Read, draw, then solve routine
- Mastery check next week
Learner profile
Priya
Grade 5
Math
Reading
Writing
Focus now
Multiplication facts, the 7s and 8s
Mentor note
Same root as Ben. Confident once she sees the pattern.
Next steps
- Small group on multiplication facts, Thursday
- Patterns she can see on the hundred chart
- Fresh check on equivalent fractions
Learner profile
Farah
Grade 5
Math
Reading
Writing
Focus now
Explaining her reasoning in writing
Mentor note
Gets to answers quickly. Now learning to show the steps someone else can follow.
Next steps
- Explain-it practice, two a session
- Present her budget at the project check-in
- Mastery check on comparing
Traced back
- Grade 5Adding fractions
- Grade 4Equivalent fractions
- Grade 3Multiplication facts
Both count on their fingers for 7 × 8, so finding a common denominator stalls.
Suggested group
BBenPPriya
15 minutes, Thursday 4:00, then a fresh check
Planned for Thursday at 4:00. Their families will see it in the next progress update.
Traced back
- Grade 5Word problems
- Grade 4Number sentences from words
- Grade 3Reading the question twice
They can calculate. Turning the words into a number sentence is where it slips.
Suggested group
BBenDDevPPriya
15 minutes, Thursday 4:00, then a fresh check
Planned for Thursday at 4:00. Their families will see it in the next progress update.
Illustrative screen. The Hikmah platform is in development.
The whole group, at a glance.
What you’re looking at
Maya · Grade 5
From Maya’s mentor
September with Maya
Maya’s plan is written. She reads well ahead of grade, so we push further there. In math, fractions keep slipping; the root is multiplication facts. That’s where we start.
Mastered this month
Her plan, written
Next: Multiplication facts, the 6s, 7s and 8s
From Maya’s mentor
October with Maya
Maya knows her 6s, 7s and 8s without counting now, and finds equal fractions faster. She also started her project: a budget for the class market day.
Mastered this month
Multiplication facts
Next: Equivalent fractions
From Maya’s mentor
November with Maya
Maya mastered equivalent fractions and set her market day prices herself. Next: comparing fractions, which her budget needs. She explains her thinking clearly now.
Mastered this month
Equivalent fractions
Next: Comparing fractions, then her project budget
Sent. Her mentor usually replies within a day.
Her path so far
- Diagnostic
- Plan
- Facts: 6s
- Facts: 7s and 8s
- Equivalent fractions
- Comparing
Try at home
Read prices aloud at the grocery store and round each one to the nearest dollar.
- Pick five items together
- She reads each price and rounds it
- Add the rounded prices in her head
Try at home
Two minutes of times-table cards at dinner, the 7s only. She asks you some too.
- Shuffle the 7s cards
- Two minutes, no more
- Swap and let her quiz you
Try at home
Cut a pizza into eighths. Which is bigger, 3/8 or 1/2? Ask her how she knows.
- Cut the pizza into eight slices
- Put 3 slices beside half the pizza
- Ask her to explain, not just answer
Thanks. Her mentor will ask her about it this week.
Illustrative screen. The Hikmah platform is in development.
Progress in plain words.
What you’re looking at
Centre overview · Fall term
Illustrative dataSkills mastered
640Roots found and fixed
52Projects shown
18Mastery over the term
ElementaryAll programsWeeks 1 to 8
Capacities in projects this term
- Think
- Create
- Solve
- Decide
- Communicate
- Lead
Illustrative dataFor us, not for show. We use this to improve and will publish real results once we have them.
Illustrative screen. The Hikmah platform is in development.
Quality we can measure.
What you’re looking at
AI with care
An AI that asks, not one that answers for them.
Your child learns to use AI well, with guardrails, once they can do the thinking themselves. Here is the same question, two ways.
Illustrative screen. The Hikmah platform is in development.
What the research found
In a field experiment with nearly a thousand high school students, those who practised math with an unrestricted AI chatbot did better during practice but 17% worse on the exam once it was taken away than students who never had it. A version built to give hints instead of answers largely avoided that harm.
Our commitments
Mentors decide
They review every plan and can override any suggestion.
Children do the thinking
Our tools give hints and questions, not answers.
Checked first
Generated questions are checked against the curriculum before your child sees them.
Our design commitments for the platform.
Privacy by design
Your child’s data, kept small and kept safe.
We collect only what learning needs, and you can see or delete it at any time.
Collect little
Only what learning needs: answers, progress and the mentor’s notes.
Use for learning
To teach your child and improve how we teach. Nothing else.
Open to you
Ask to see everything we hold about your child.
Deleted on time
Ask, and your personal information is deleted sooner. Within 12 months after you leave, it’s removed anyway. Either way, only anonymous data stays.
Never
- Sold
- Used for advertising
- Published in a way that identifies a child
Sources
The research on this page. Read it for yourself.
Each study cited above, with a link to the original. These are other researchers’ findings, not results from Hikmah, which isn’t open yet.
Siegler and colleagues (2012). Early predictors of high school mathematics achievement (opens in a new tab) Psychological Science.
Black and Wiliam (1998). Assessment and classroom learning (opens in a new tab) Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 5(1), 7–74.
Kulik, Kulik and Bangert-Drowns (1990). Effectiveness of mastery learning programs: A meta-analysis (opens in a new tab) Review of Educational Research, 60(2), 265–299.
Atkinson and colleagues (2000). Learning from examples: Instructional principles from the worked examples research (opens in a new tab) Review of Educational Research, 70(2), 181–214.
Kalyuga and colleagues (2003). The expertise reversal effect (opens in a new tab) Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 23–31.
Bisra and colleagues (2018). Inducing self-explanation: A meta-analysis (opens in a new tab) Educational Psychology Review.
Wisniewski, Zierer and Hattie (2020). The power of feedback revisited: A meta-analysis of educational feedback research (opens in a new tab) Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 3087.
Rohrer and colleagues (2020). A randomized controlled trial of interleaved mathematics practice (opens in a new tab) Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(1), 40–52.
Cepeda and colleagues (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis (opens in a new tab) Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380.
Roediger and Karpicke (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention (opens in a new tab) Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255.
Bastani and colleagues (2025). Generative AI without guardrails can harm learning: Evidence from high school mathematics (opens in a new tab) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(26), e2422633122.
What we’ll measure, and publish
- How often the map’s first guess about a gap is right
- How long each skill takes to master
- What still holds at return visits
- When AI helps a child think, and when it thinks for them