Technology and learning
An engineer on how learning tech is actually built: AI tutors, devices, privacy, and what to trust.
Can Kids Learn Math From an App? What the Screen Can and Can't Do
An app can drill facts and free up your evening, but it can't hear the confusion in your kid's voice. Here's what the screen does well and where it falls flat.
What a Good Parent Dashboard Should Show You (Most Don't)
Most parent dashboards in learning apps count minutes and stars, not learning. Here is what a good parent dashboard should show, from someone who builds them.
Kids and Passwords: Teaching Basic Account Safety Before Age 10
You don't need to scare a kid to keep their accounts safe. Here's how I taught mine the password basics, in plain language, before they turned ten.
Streaks in Kids Apps: The Feature Designed to Make Missing a Day Hurt
The little number that counts your kid's days in a row isn't there to help them learn. Here's what a streak is actually built to do, and how to use it anyway.
Do Reward Systems in Learning Apps Help or Just Train Kids to Grind?
Points, coins, and prize wheels look like motivation. Sometimes they are. Sometimes they teach a kid to chase the reward and skip the learning entirely.
How I Vet Any Learning App Before It Touches My Kid's Tablet
The exact steps I run through before any learning app gets installed on my kid's tablet, from what it collects to whether it teaches at all.
Ads Inside Kids Apps: What's Legal, What's Sketchy, and How to Kill Them
How ads in kids apps really work under the hood, which ones cross a line, and the concrete steps that actually get rid of them.
The Difference Between an App That Teaches and an App That Just Tests
Most math apps quiz your kid over and over and call it learning. Here's how to tell the ones that actually teach from the ones that only test.
Should a Kid Use ChatGPT for Homework? Where I Draw the Line
There's a version of this that teaches your kid and a version that quietly does their thinking for them. The gap between them is smaller than you'd hope.
How to Talk to Your Kid About AI Without Scaring Them or Overselling It
AI is already in your kid's homework help and video feed. Here's how to explain what it really is, without the doom or the marketing sparkle.
Online Learning at Home That Isn't Just More Screen Time
Most learning apps are entertainment with a worksheet stapled on. Here's how to tell online learning that actually teaches from the stuff that just occupies.
Free Learning Apps Aren't Free: How the Money Actually Works
Nobody builds and maintains a kids app for nothing. Here's how free learning apps for kids actually pay their bills, and what that costs your child's attention.
How a Learning App Is Actually Built (and Why That Should Matter to Parents)
The design choices inside a kids' app aren't neutral. Here's what those choices reveal, from someone who makes them.
What Kids Apps Collect About Your Child (and How to Check)
What a free kids app really gathers about your child, why it does it, and the quick checks any parent can run before hitting install.
Dark Patterns in Kids Apps: How to Spot the Tricks Before Your Kid Does
Most of the tricks in kids apps aren't accidents. They're designed, tested, and shipped on purpose. Here's how to recognize them.
Coding for Kids Without the Hype: What's Real at the Elementary Level
I write software for a living. Here's what coding for kids at the elementary level actually teaches, and what's just an expensive way to buy peace of mind.
Teaching Kids to Type: When to Start and How to Make It Not Boring
When to start teaching kids to type, why the hunt-and-peck habit is worth breaking early, and how to make the practice something they'll actually keep doing.
Digital Literacy for a Second Grader: The Five Things Worth Teaching First
Your seven-year-old does not need to code. But there are five small digital habits worth teaching now, before the harder years show up.
Should You Buy the Kids Edition Tablet or a Regular One?
The kids edition costs more and does less. Here's what you're actually paying for, and when the regular tablet plus a case is the smarter buy.
Choosing a Kid's First Tablet: What Actually Matters (and What Doesn't)
The best first tablet for kids has almost nothing to do with the specs on the box. Here is what a software engineer checks before handing one over.
AI Chatbots Flatter Wrong Answers: Why That Matters for Your Kid's Math
A chatbot will often tell your kid a wrong math answer is right if they push back hard enough. Here's why that happens and why it matters.
How to Tell If an AI Tutor Is Teaching Your Kid or Just Doing the Homework
A veteran teacher explains how to spot the difference between an AI tutor that teaches your child and one that just hands over the finished homework.
Are AI Tutors Safe for Elementary Kids? A Parent's Honest Look
I build kids software for a living. Here is my honest read on whether an AI tutor is safe for an elementary kid, and what to actually check first.
Give the math a reason.
Kids earn tickets for real practice and trade them for prizes you set at home.
Set up a free parent account