How Power Builders Works:
Every week, teachers or parent volunteers will assess students at their current Level to ascertain whether they have achieved automatic recall of a particular focus (such as adding 1 to any number between 0 and 10). Once students demonstrate mastery of a specific Level, they will proceed through subsequent Levels until they encounter difficulty. Thus, students may at times skip past several Levels, and at other times spend several weeks working toward mastery of a particularly tricky Level. Each week, your child’s teacher will let you know which Power Builders Level he or she is focusing on. You can download a PDF of every Level using the Power Builders website. The Levels are clearly numbered and also include a short description of the focus in their titles. They are organized according to the following benchmarks:
Kindergarten: Levels 1-23
First Grade: Levels 24-59
Second Grade: Levels 60-102
Third Grade: Levels 103-145
As a family, you can decide the best way to work toward instantaneous retrieval of that week’s facts based on your child’s learning style. In order for students to make steady progress in Power Builders, they will need regular, dedicated practice with adult help. It will be much more beneficial to spend 5 to 10 minutes every night on math facts than 30 minutes one night a week.
Strategies and Resources
Many levels have associated Strategy Sheets that provide useful methods for learning and memorizing math facts. You will find the Strategy Sheets in PDF form on the website next to its corresponding Power Builders Level. The Strategies will be especially useful if students spend more than one or two weeks at a level.