Mentava's software-based tutor teaches kids as young as 2 to read. Unlike edutainment apps that are designed to be screen-based babysitters, Mentava's goal is to get kids to a 2nd grade reading level as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Maker
It's incredibly rewarding to see young smart kids accelerate their learning curve so early in a fun and exciting way. Developing the ability to read/learn fast and love it creates really positive habits early IMO. It makes me think there is so much improvement for smart kids who want to accelerate when they're excited about the material, instead of it just being a slow grind. I know I personally have benefited from this boost.
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We paid for this product for 2 months while we were on summer break to help Chloe (4.5 years old) get a jump start on reading. While we tried to get her to do it everyday for at least 15 minutes, she ultimately did not enjoy the program and I did not have the bandwidth to oversee her during these lessons. If I am paying $500 per month, I did not want to have to be right next to her, making her repeat those sounds or making sure she didn't switch over to youtube/SagoMini/ABC Mouse. I tried to make her re-do certain lessons/games because she did have trouble with the double letter sounds but after spending $1000, she has overall retained very little and still cannot do double letter sounds....and still can't read.
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Maker
@jessica_hon_lee Hi Jessica, sorry to hear we weren't a good fit for your family. We do our best to set expectations in our onboarding emails and onboarding calls, but you're right. It's impossible to make progress without committed daily practice, and especially in the beginning it's best to think of this as a shared activity between the parent and the child.
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P.MAIEvery child deserves to reach their potential! What Niels and his team are building is critical how we need to rethink our approach to education.
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Maker
@phuongmmai Absolutely! Smart kids are unfortunately shackled by glass ceilings in traditional education, which we're hoping to help them break through from an early age.
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Maker
@phuongmmai Thanks for your support from the very beginning Phuong!
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Congrats on the launch! Is it only American english?
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Maker
@consequences Yeah, we've architected it so we'll be able to support other languages/accents eventually, but for now all the letter sounds have a pretty neutral American accent
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Great content in the newsletter. The method seems effective, and I’d recommend checking out the book it’s based on. The positioning is really well done. Charging $500/month for an app by comparing it to a $1,000/month tutor was brilliant. All entrepreneurs should learn from it. While we still need to see if extended iPad use could have any long-term effects like ADHD, overall, I think this product has a lot of potential. Recommended.
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Maker
@aviggiano Thanks! IMO active-learning screen time is pretty different from passive consumption screen time. It's pretty tiring and kids don't usually last more than 30 minutes. I would be surprised if it had a big impact on ADHD
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Great idea and great execution. Been following Mentava for a while. Maybe I will try it soon :)
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Maker
@signed_adam Thanks! If you're on the fence, check out our free Alphabet Sounds ebook! In addition to being a great way to build phonemic awareness, it's got some activities to test how your kid might response to our software
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@nielshoven Niels if my son spoke English, I would already be a paid customer! But I still have a little time
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BuilderBookYou guys are on such an important mission. Congratulations on the launch!
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Maker
@aridutilh Thanks to you and Julian for your support!
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Maker
@aridutilh Thank you Ari! It's just the beginning and we hope we'll be able to make a difference
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