[mikesabat]

If you want to make a kids app... Forcing the child to do a number of math problems to continue using the tablet would be an amazing app that I would definitely pay for.

My daughter is a second grader. If every 5 minutes of tablet use 'cost' her 5 correct arithmetic answers she would be working at space x right now.

[graemep]

It would work short term, but I would worry that it makes a a price to be paid which will impair joy in learning the subject in the long term.

Its much better to make kids interested in learning than to reward reaching goals or punish failing to reach them.

[serial_dev]

On the other hand, the kids might do lot of exercises to keep playing, then they get better at something, then they realize that it is much more enjoyable to be good at something than not...

Long term, it could still be a win.

Obviously not the same, but in the first years of university, I hated math because it suddenly got hard (never before university did I have to learn math or physics just to barely pass). Then, after many nights of reading through books and practicing, grinding, I realized it's not that hard and it made me enjoy solving the "challenges".

[nh23423fefe]

Is it much better if its not possible? You just handwaved away the work involve by assuming you can create "interest". You shifted the goal post away from using arithmetic as a tax on idle iPad use toward "learning."

What about chores? How should I make my children interested in chores outside of a reward or punishment?

[bitwize]

Math is a grind. Inherently. You gotta drill the basic arithmetic in order to learn it, and no amount of sugarcoating will make kids like it. So incentivizing kids to commit to the grind will beat attempting to make the subject more interesting, every time. This is the lesson unlearned by proponents of "New Math" and "Common Core" in the USA; in fact, maybe one of the reasons why Singapore Math is so successful is because Singaporeans, like many Asians, learn the value of discipline from an early age.

[debunn]

Might I suggest https://www.prodigygame.com - it's a free-to-play online math game, where your child is a wizard that has to answer (age appropriate) math questions to gain magic to cast spells. Note: there is a paid subscription that allows your child to get access to more pets / faster experience gain, but is not required.

While this isn't a "do math to be able to unlock your device" type of game, it is fun to play and can be used as an earned screen-time requirement (or a "free screen-time" option!)

Disclaimer: I work for Prodigy as a Site Reliability Engineer, but my son (10) also enjoys playing the game!

[quantadev]

It certainly seems like someone would've invented a Kid Friendly phone by now that's completely safe, and doesn't allow access to the "real" internet at all, but only an ability to send texts without images, make voice calls, etc. Now that we have AI it would be easier, an you could potentially give "Google" access that's censored into a "child friendly" output by the AI. You could have a texting app where friends can talk, but only to kids in their own school for example, or at least limited by geographical area, to foster friendships IRL, rather than some Chinese Bot being able to trick your kid into eating Tide Pods or whatever their latest Attack on America happens to be.

But TBH making kids continually solve math problems seems a bit mean to me. Like making a kid do pushups for food if they're overweight. Too militaristic and authoritarian for my liking, but I can respect your creativity for creating that. It's good to try new ideas.

[akho]

“Child friendly output” is not a solution. It is the problem. I trust my 9-yo to avoid porn or violence; I don’t trust him to be able to resist the hours of inane content on YouTube Kids &c. Using AI to facilitate access to more of that, while censoring reality, is the opposite of what’s needed.

[graemep]

So make a phone without all the things that make it so profitable? Limit what they can be sold? You would have to sell it at a premium for less functionality.

There are ways of locking down phones and apps, I think. I am pretty sure there are apps that will do most of what you want, but they do not have critical mass.

I did set up a Jitsi server for my daughter and her friends at one point when another parent was not keen on allowing kids access to chat and video apps.

You can give kids a basic phone instead of a smartphone.

[dylan604]

I'd rather solve math problems than CAPTCHAs any day of the week.

[MagnumOpus]

The Anton app[0] does that to a decent extent. The kids have to earn "coins" by solving math/English/other school tasks, and can spend these coins on a huge variety of mini games.

For use on a tablet, you'd have to lock down the tablet to that single app by putting it into Kiosk mode/Single App mode.

[0] https://anton.app

[abootstrapper]

I don’t think it’s possible to build this app on an iPad. But, I taught my kids my phone number by making it their passcode. Before that I used it to teach them how to spell their name.

[dekervin]

Can I reach you over email ? Mine is in profile ! I want to share something not ready for primetime.

[mikesabat]

I sent an email - excited to see what you've got.

[kurrupttt]

wait. this is a great idea. i'm going to build this over the weekend.