Our mission
It started with trying to find apps for my children
It grew out of something very ordinary: I was looking for good educational apps for my children, Jack and Maria.
I was not looking for anything complicated. Sometimes they simply needed to practise something they had already learned at school: times tables, spelling, arithmetic or another basic skill. I wanted something I could hand them for five or ten minutes and know that the time would actually be spent practising.
Finding that was surprisingly difficult. A lot of potentially interesting ones sat behind subscriptions where you can sign up with your credit card for a "free trial", though TrustPilot tells a story of how free some of those really are. Many of them try and "gamify" learning trying by distracting with cute characters and platform games, not the short, focused practice I was actually looking for. Finally many of them have the dreaded "contains adverts". An educational exercise should be a safe, quiet space to learn, not an advertising opportunity.
Because none of the apps available met the high standards I set for my children’s education, I decided to create my own.
Simple apps, powerful learning
Each app does one thing and does it well. Tap to open it and start practising straight away. There is nothing to configure, no login, and no username or avatar to choose.
The graphics are simple, with no background music competing for attention. There are no settings to experiment with, themes to swap or colours to change. The app stays out of the way so a child can concentrate on the task.
Refresh, Repeat, React, Rating
Refresh
Start with a visual reminder of what has already been learned at school, bringing the idea back into view before practising.
Repeat
Work through the skill repeatedly, reinforcing the learning until it becomes more familiar and easier to recall.
React
Put that learning to the test with a quiz, timed where appropriate, to see how well it has really been learned.
Rating
Calculate a fair score that reflects the result and gives the child something meaningful to improve with another practice session.