Little Ethan Lim, 8, used to hate his math practice, often rushing through them just so that he could get back to his iPad games. Mum Lydia Ang wished she had some magical powers to colour math cool.
In another part of Singapore, 2 mothers were facing a similar dilemma. They believed that children learnt best through play. But where was the educational content in most online games? Bill Gates’ words at an Education Commission Conference struck them.“Imagine if kids poured their time and passion into a video game that taught them math concepts while they barely noticed, because it was so enjoyable”.
That was just what they wanted to hear and the beginning of a thrilling start up journey. Thus was born Intellipath Games, a Singapore-based digital start-up company with a simple mission: to create a mobile gaming platform dedicated to advancing children’s education. The company follows a very simple motto: “Learn + Play” – merge entertainment with active learning.
How DetecThink was Born
Intellipath Games’ co-founder, Ms Grace Chua, who also holds a senior corporate position, used her deep knowledge of parenting insights globally, plus her own successful parenting of two digitally-savvy children, and worked with math tuition and learning psychology to create DetecThink – an entertaining mobile gaming app that captivates and stimulates young minds, while practicing math.
“Why not keep children happy with play, and incorporate math into their fun time? This way, math will no longer be a task, but an enjoyable adventure waiting to be solved!” says the developers, who created the mobile app game, DetecThink, for children to learn, practice and master math concepts by tapping on a child’s sense of adventure, mystery and curiosity.
DetecThink got its first big test. The results? Read on…
Who can use DetecThink?
Ms. Chua explains that DetecThink is suitable for primary school children from 6-10 years old. It is designed to be used as a supplement to fundamental concepts learned in school by allowing children to practice what they learned through an entertaining story based game.
DetecThink players become fully immersed in a captivating world of detective case work by solving a series of interactive clues that include freeing a princess, unlocking a secret suitcase, to solve the mystery of a missing crown. The only way to advance through the game is by completing addition and subtraction problems which progress in difficulty from one level to another. Because it is a ‘can’t put it down’ mystery story, children do not realize they have solved almost 100 math puzzle questions just to get to the end of the story!
DetectThink gets its big test
We asked Ethan and Lydia to try out this app and see if it solved any of their math woes. The results were surprising, especially for Lydia, who found that it was easy to get Ethan hooked on to Detecthink as it’s such a fun game that revolves around an engaging and interactive plot.
Ethan was super thrilled that he could even customise his avatar as he took on the role of a detective on a mission.
Lydia feels that though the kids have been exposed to electronic learning or e-learning materials at school, these exercises usually have heavy focus on content and the questions are usually presented in typical “assessment book” style and not interactive at all. At times, parents will also need to guide the child through the more complex questions and also help them to toggle between questions, submit answers, or move to the next worksheet.
She’s amazed that, “For DetecThink, the kids seem to intuitively know how to use it thus there is very minimal “teaching” and guidance needed. Even my younger son can play the game. I think is a great bonding opportunity as they work together to unlock each chapter. While playing the game, the boys were very focused in clearing the hurdles to get to the next chapter. They probably didn’t realise that they were doing a lot of math sums in the process.”
Ethan couldn’t agree more. “I feel very excited when I clear one chapter and move on to the next chapter. The puzzles are fun and it feels like I’m reading a storybook too. I feel a sense of achievement after clearing all the chapters!”
He can’t stop gushing. “It helps me to understand math better. It also helps me to revise on math concepts that I don’t really practice now, like number bonds. I feel that I can do the sums faster now as I am taking a shorter time to solve the mystery. When I play the game I know immediately if my answer is correct. I also challenge myself by trying out a higher level.”
How can you get DetecThink? Go to the next page to find out.
So What’s next for DetecThink?
Ms. Chua elaborates, “Expand into more overseas markets. DetecThink is currently available in the Apple App Store in US, UK, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines with Singapore as the lead market. Also, launch the next detective mystery story with new educational content for our DetecThinkers to solve!”
Where can you get DetecThink?
Currently, DetecThink is available for free download in the Apple App Store, with its first four chapters free of charge. After which, parents need to make an in-app purchase of SGD 6.99 (USD 4.99) to unlock the rest of the story. As with any other children’s apps, parents need to download and make in-app purchases for their children. Once downloaded, children can engage with DetecThink independently the app has been created specifically for children aged 6-10 years old with appropriate content and privacy measures in place.
Some highlights of DetecThink in a nutshell
- Solve up to eight challenges, with almost 100 math problems.
- Math puzzle learning topics which include numbers place value, addition and subtraction.
- Parents can customize the difficulty level in line with the child’s skills, and create multiple users accounts for siblings, allowing each child to create his or her own detective avatar.
- Parents can monitor their child’s progress with a personalised progress report.
- Captivating graphics and sound effects to give an amazing storybook and game-play experience.
Meanwhile, Ethan can’t wait to share his joy. “I told my friends in school about the game and how to play it. I hope they have downloaded the game too.” Well, it looks like Lydia just got her happy ending.
Also READ: 6 Awesome Maths iPad Apps
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