Inklings PaperMath

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Common questions

How do I see the answers?
Tap the three-dots button at the top of the worksheet and choose Answer key. It shows every answer beside its problem. If you have set a parent PIN you will be asked for it first, so a student cannot reach the answers on their own; with no PIN set, it opens straight away.

Do I have to use a PIN?
No. The app starts with no PIN, and answers and grading open freely. Set one in Settings → Parent if a student uses the device unsupervised, and turn it off again there with Disable PIN, which asks for the current PIN so a student cannot do it.

I've forgotten my PIN.
There is no way back into the answers, grading, the reset button or Disable PIN without it, and no recovery code — the PIN is stored only as a one-way hash, so it cannot be read back off the device by anyone, including us. The only route is to delete the app and install it again, which clears every student and starts you at setup. Please pick something you will remember, and note that a student who watches you type it will know it too.

How does it decide what to give next?
Each worksheet draws on up to six topics: five your student is working on, plus an occasional refresher from something already mastered. A topic counts as mastered after three worksheets in a row with at least ninety per cent correct, and only then does the next topic open up. Both numbers can be changed in Settings → Completion criteria: 85 to 100 per cent, and two to five worksheets. Getting a refresher wrong puts that topic back into rotation.

How is a grade paced, and when are the tests?
Each grade (or course, such as Algebra I) is worked through in four quarters, and each quarter is finished before the next one opens. When only one or two topics are left in a quarter, the worksheet is topped up to three with topics your student has already completed in it, starting with the ones they found hardest. When the last topic is complete the app offers a test: a Mid-Term after the first quarter, the Semester Final at the halfway point, a second Mid-Term after the third quarter, and the Final at the end of the grade. A Mid-Term covers its quarter, the Semester Final the first half, and the Final the whole grade. You can skip any of them.

My student is getting problems that are too easy.
Go to Progress, open the level they are past, and tick what they already know. Ticking a topic also ticks everything it builds on, plus every topic two or more levels below it, so you can usually mark a whole year in one tap with Grade Completed.

Why does the same topic keep coming back?
Either it is not mastered yet, or it is appearing as a refresher. Refreshers come from topics already mastered and are there to keep them from fading. You can make them rarer or more frequent in Settings → Review problems.

How do I add another student?
Tap the name at the top of any tab, then Manage students, then Add student. You can have up to thirty on one device. Each keeps their own progress, worksheets and history, and the parent PIN is shared across all of them. When you add a student you can mark what they already know, so an older child does not start at counting.

Can I change how long a worksheet is?
Yes, in Settings. Problems that need room to work, such as long division, count for more than one, so a worksheet of those has fewer problems on it and leaves space to write.

I don't have a printer.
Use the share button on the worksheet to send it as a PDF — to a computer, to a print shop, or to anywhere else that can print. The worksheet is laid out for US Letter paper.

How do I explain a topic I don't remember myself?
On the answer key or the grading screen, tap any section heading. It opens a page with the method step by step, the mistakes people usually make, a diagram where one helps, and worked examples at three difficulties. There is one for every topic in the app.

Where is my student's progress stored?
On your device, and nowhere else. Inklings PaperMath makes no network connections at all. If you back up your device, the app's data is part of that backup, the same as any other app.

How do I delete a student, or everything?
To remove one student, open Manage students and swipe their name. To erase everything, use Settings → Reset all progress, which needs the PIN if one is set. Deleting the app removes all of it permanently.