Your child's day centers on one goal: their daily ring. Their level sets how big the ring is. Fill it, and they win the day. Win most days, and they move up a level, where the goal is bigger and so is the prize.
The levels
Minutes are active minutes: time your child spends actually learning, with idle and off-task time taken out. See how learning time is measured.
Where your child starts
Your child's starting level comes from their last few weeks of work before levels began for them. We look at their last 10 working days (or their last 5, if they had only 5 to 9), skipping days off and MAP test days.
They start at the higher of two things: the highest daily goal they met on 8 of those 10 days (4 of 5), or the level their average day reaches:
90 minutes a day for Silver
120 minutes for Gold, or
120 XP for Platinum.
XP from tests counts up to 30 a day toward that average. A child with fewer than 5 working days in the six weeks before starts at Bronze. Placement can't start a child at Diamond.
Why your child starts where they are
A goal a child can't reach doesn't push them to work harder. It teaches them the goal doesn't matter. So every child starts with a goal they can win, wins early, and learns they can do more.
The aim for every child is 120 minutes of focused work or 120 XP a day. Each level is a step toward it, with a bigger prize every time they move up.
Bronze and Silver are the training stretch. A full ring wins the day, and your child should still keep going if they can: hitting the goal every day is what moves them up to bigger goals, and that is the aim.
Bonus rings reward that extra time (bonus rewards). Staying at Bronze or Silver for a long time is something we will talk with you about, and it can affect MAP eligibility, because the MAP target does not shrink with the level.
Filling the ring
Work in any subject fills the ring: minutes at Bronze, Silver, and Gold, and XP at Platinum and Diamond (Diamond's ring is the week).
Each subject has a recommended amount for the day. It's that subject's share of the ring. The To-Do List crosses a subject off once it reaches its share.
A bit extra still counts. Each subject keeps filling the ring until it meets its goal for the week.
Then it's closed for the week. Your child can keep working in it, but it usually won't fill the ring again until next week, so they should switch to another subject. This keeps a good mix of subjects across the week. On a short week, when the subjects still open can't fill the ring, a closed subject can get a little extra time for that day, shown under Win the day on the To-Do List: that time fills the day's ring, but it doesn't count toward the week.
Moving up and down
Fast start. Every child begins with a fast start: win 4 of their first 5 learning days, and they move up a level. They can't move down during the fast start. If they don't move up in the first 5 days, fast start ends.
After the fast start. Win 8 of the last 10 learning days to move up. Moves go one level at a time.
Holding a level. A day holds the level if your child reaches their own goal or the goal of the level below (a safe day). Holding it on fewer than 8 of the last 10 learning days moves them down one level. Bronze never moves down.
Days with no work. Only days your child actually works count. A school day with no work at all (under 5 minutes and no XP) is skipped, not counted as a miss. A day with some work that falls short of the goal does count.
Moves are worked out overnight, so the level never changes partway through a day your child has already started. Goals can only go down during a day: if a subject's goal is lowered partway through, that subject keeps what your child already did, and the day's ring gets smaller to match (for example, 76 minutes instead of 90). Reaching the smaller number still wins the day.
How Diamond works
Qualifying: Platinum’s usual 8 of 10 (4 of 5 on the fast start) qualifies them.
Moving up: they move up the Monday after a week that ends still qualified. If they drop below 8 of 10 before the week ends, they stay at Platinum and can qualify the next week again.
Goal: every subject reaches its weekly XP goal (600 XP in a full week, less in a shorter one).
Dropping out: any missed week means back to Platinum from the next Monday.
Prizes and streaks
Win the Day
Filling the ring pays a chest of Alphas that day. The prize gets bigger (double) at each level. Moving up a level is meaningful.
Bonus chests
At Bronze, Silver, and Gold, winning the day opens a bonus ring, and prize is the next level’s goal. Closing it pays another chest and opens the next one, up to Platinum’s 120 XP.
Level | Bonus rings after winning the day |
Bronze | Bonus ring (90 minutes), Epic ring (120 minutes), Legendary ring (120 XP) |
Silver | Epic ring (120 minutes), Legendary ring (120 XP) |
Gold | Legendary ring (120 XP) |
Every bonus chest is the size of your child’s own level’s chest, so a Bronze child’s bonus chests are Bronze chests. Bigger chests come only from moving up a level. Minutes in any subject fill the Bonus and Epic rings, and each subject counts up to its weekly goal, just like the daily ring. The Legendary ring counts XP, not minutes: all the XP your child earns that day fills it. Platinum and Diamond have no bonus rings.
At Diamond, you earn two chests weekly: a Halfway chest when the week’s ring is half full (300 XP in a full week), and the Win the Week chest when every subject reaches its weekly goal. Once the final chest is won, they can complete win-the-day rings until the week is over and earn a platinum-sized reward.
Streaks. Ten minutes or any XP in each open subject earns the day's streak, and shields still cover a missed day. Writing doesn't count toward the streak.
See Earning Alphas for everything else that pays Alphas.
Other things levels unlock
Life Skills is open for your child's first two weeks, counted from their first visit to Life Skills. After that, it opens on any learning day they do 120 minutes or earn 120 XP, at any level, and it is always open on days off and at Diamond.
The Hive (peer chats and arcade): closed at Bronze and Silver. At Gold and Platinum, it opens on a learning day once your child does 120 minutes or earns 120 XP (on a day off, once the week's goal is met). At Diamond, the Hive is always open. The Hive only appears for children who have it enabled and are 11-13.
Days off
A day marked off on your learning calendar has no goal. It never counts against your child's level or streak. MAP testing days don't count against it either.
At Diamond, days off shrink the weekly goal and prize, and a week with no learning days isn't judged.
Where your child sees it
Home shows today's ring and a card for each subject with its recommended amount.
My Level shows their badge, their daily goal, and the road to the next level: a square for each recent learning day.
At Diamond, Home shows the week’s ring, and the two chests sit beside the streak flame.
See All Levels & Rules opens the full ladder and how moving works.
Each move up or down shows a pop-up explaining it. On Platinum, a pop-up also tells them when they qualify for Diamond, and the road warns them if missing today would cost them the move.
Help (the ? at the top of Home) replays the levels tour any time.
Questions?
Ask Alphie in the Parent Portal or Timeback. If he can't sort it out, he'll connect you with our team.