AcornSmarts — the DK–5 practice kids actually finish

The summer gap

Diagnosis goes quiet when school lets out.

Schools spend all year finding each child's gaps. Then June arrives, the diagnostic tools go dark, and the practice stops. AcornSmarts is the friendly, low-pressure app that keeps kids working on the right things — in a parent's reach, on a device they already own.

🎯

Points at the real gapsA quick "find my level" places each child; teachers and parents aim it at what school already found — no new test to run.

🧠

Adapts to each kidDifficulty rises and eases on its own, and a Mixed Review resurfaces skills right before they fade.

❤️

Kids actually like itA warm orchard, forest friends to collect, and celebrations that feel earned — the opposite of drill-and-kill.

How it works

One app, three people it helps.

🎒

Kids

Grow an oak by earning acorns across math, reading, science and more. Each round they predict how they'll do and see how it went, set their own weekly goal, collect forest friends, and climb an adventure trail — with hints and a step-by-step "here's why."

👨‍👩‍👧

Parents

A no-guilt weekly digest: days practiced, minutes, mastery and streaks — plus one plain "try this together" idea. See exactly what each child worked on, with up to six kids in one tap.

🍎

Teachers

Assign skills with a class code, then see who did it and who needs a boost. Print a conference-ready one-page progress report for any student in a click. Near-zero setup.

How kids answer

Hands-on, not multiple-choice.

A question is rarely "pick one of three." The same skill arrives through whichever interaction teaches it best — so a session keeps feeling like something new to do. Fifteen activity types, each with instant check-and-X feedback.

✍️ Finger-trace letters

🧩 Build-a-sentence

🟡 Ten-frame builder

🐸 Number-line hop

🔤 Tap-to-spell

🔢 Tap-to-count

🗂️ Sort-into-bins

🌱 Label-the-diagram

🧮 Type-the-answer pad

🔗 Match & pair

And it never asks the same exact question twice — a no-repeat engine rotates and rewords, so it doesn't get stale.

Why it works

Built on what the research actually says.

The joyful wrapper is the delivery. Underneath is the practice education research ranks highest — put to work for a six-year-old.

1.44
🎯
Predict, then compareEvery round opens with the child's honest guess — "this is new" · "I'll try" · "I've got this" — and closes by holding it against how they actually did. It builds a self-aware learner, not a passive score-taker.The highest-effect-size practice in Hattie's synthesis of 90,000+ studies (self-reported grades, d ≈ 1.44).
🌱
Their own goalEach week the child picks how many days they want to practice and watches their progress fill in. A target you choose yourself builds ownership — not a chore you're nagged into.Goal-setting research: student-chosen goals drive intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy.
📚
Real decodable readingNew readers get connected, sound-it-out text held to the phonics they've been taught — the Science-of-Reading practice a literacy plan already calls for — beside sight words, comprehension and writing.Science of Reading: decodable connected text, not isolated word lists.
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Fluency & retention, gentlyInterleaved fact practice builds automaticity with no timer and no high-stakes pressure, and a Mixed Review resurfaces mastered skills right before they fade.Retrieval practice + spaced repetition — without the anxiety of timed tests.

What we won't do: promise score gains — and you should be wary of anyone who does. What we guarantee is provable: the practice gets done, and you can see exactly what each child worked on.

See it

Made to be loved on the couch.

Audio-first for the littlest learners, big friendly targets, and a celebration that feels earned when a skill is finally mastered. Every round ends with a kid-friendly "here's why," and it reads aloud for kids who aren't reading yet.

🗣️

Truly bilingualA full Spanish edition — interface, narration and content — plus a Spanish-native reading track the big three don't offer.

📲

Installable & offlineAdd to the home screen; works with no internet and no app store.

An AcornSmarts multiplication question with the friendly acorn guide and a number pad

What's inside

Serious learning. Joyful wrapper.

🔢

58 leveled skillsMath, Reading, Word Power, Science & Social Studies — DK through 5, shaped to grade-level standards.

📈

Mastery & trendsSmartScore growth and over-time charts for parents and teachers, on device and in the cloud.

🖨️

One-click progress reportsPrint a parent-conference-ready one-pager for any student — strengths, what to work on, how to help.

🗺️

Journey, friends & a gameA collectible forest, an adventure trail, and a quick reward game — the reasons kids come back.

☁️

Optional cloud syncReal parent and teacher accounts with cross-device sync and a class join code — or stay fully on-device.

🔒

Private by defaultRuns on the device with no account and sends nothing anywhere. FERPA/COPPA-minded. No ads, no tracking.

Honest about the lane

Next to the big three.

i-Ready, IXL and Lexia are strong at what they do — keep them. Here's where AcornSmarts fits, plainly.

	i-Ready	IXL	Lexia Core5	🌰 AcornSmarts
Built as	District diagnostic + instruction	Comprehensive practice & scoring	Structured reading program	Supplemental practice kids love
Who can buy it	Districts	Families & schools	Districts	Families, centers & schools
At home & over summer	Only if the district keeps it on	Yes, with a paid family plan	Usually district-scheduled	Yes — free for families, offline
DK–2 "want to open it" feel	Assessment-first	Practice-first	Program-first	Joyful, hands-on, audio-first
Spanish	Partial	Partial	Reading-focused	Full app + Spanish-native track
Cost to a family	Not sold to families	~$79–159 / year	Not sold to families	Free to try at home

We complement diagnostics — we don't replace them. Details reflect each program's typical model; the comparison is category-level, not a knock on anyone's tool.

Who it's for

Families. Centers. Schools.

One product, two ways in: families start free at home, and centers and schools license the layer that lets them run it across students — teacher accounts, class rosters, cross-device sync, and reporting.

👨‍👩‍👧 Families

Start free in seconds — no account required
A plain weekly digest, plus printable progress
English & Spanish, on any tablet or phone
Keeps summer learning alive without the battles
Up to six kids, each with their own progress

🏫 Learning centers & tutoring

No district IT, no rollout — assign, share a code, go
See who practiced and who needs a boost, per skill
Conference-ready reports for parent updates
Fully bilingual for your Spanish-speaking families
Your families use it at home too, included in your license
Flat, affordable licensing — no per-seat lock-in

🎓 Schools & districts

Complements your diagnostics — no overlap fight
Shaped to grade-level standards, DK–5
Science-of-Reading decodable text for new readers
Strong privacy posture — on-device, no trackers
Built for accessibility — keyboard, screen-reader & color-blind friendly (WCAG-AA)
Start with a single group; your data is always yours

Simple pricing

Priced to say yes.

Flat annual licensing for centers and schools — no per-seat counting, no lock-in. One price covers your whole group, and your enrolled families are included.

Tutor / after-school

Up to ~30 students

$349/yr

≈ $12 per student

Teacher accounts & a class join code
Assign skills, see who needs a boost
Progress reports & class summary
Fully bilingual (English & Spanish)

Learning center

Up to ~150 students

$799/yr

≈ $5 per student

Everything in Tutor, at center scale
Multiple classes & cross-device cloud sync
Conference-ready reports for parent night
Curriculum scope & sequence on request

School / building

Up to ~400 students

$1,900/yr

≈ $5 per student · or ~$250/classroom

Whole-building license, all classrooms
Full teacher & admin reporting suite
Science-of-Reading decodable text included
Private by default — FERPA/COPPA posture

🏡 Families — free to start at home Their own kids on their own device, no account. A paid family plan may come later; enrolled families of a licensed center or school are always included.

Start with a single group. No RFP, no per-seat lock-in, and your data is always yours. A fraction of what i-Ready, IXL, or Lexia charge — with direct access to the founder, not a 1-800 number.

The practice that
actually gets done.