STEM
ReckonQuest
Every riddle has a way in — we'll show you how to find it. Word-problem workshop with an evidence-based solving scaffold (schema + Polya), for ages 9–14.
Meet your mentor
Every Spark & Anvil app has a friendly mentor character that demonstrates, praises, and patiently scaffolds learning. On-device AI personalizes the mentor's responses to your kid's progress — never connecting to a server, never collecting data.
Mentored by Cass
#2E9E7B Distributed-narrative cast
Meet the cast
ReckonQuest is a word-problem workshop where the SCAFFOLD to solve is the point — classic math riddles (chickens-and-cows, age, coin, work-rate, mixture) delivered with schema recognition, Polya's steps, and articulate-before-hint. The cast are solvers whose defining act IS a heuristic. Keeper Cass runs understand→plan→execute→look-back and normalizes not knowing the way in.
Reck
Systematic guess-and-check — makes a reckoned guess, checks it, makes the next guess smarter (the pre-algebra bridge)
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Lettie
Set up the equation — names the unknowns ('let x = the chickens') and writes the relationships
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Retta
Work backwards — starts from the goal and reverses the steps
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Kindra
Recognize the schema — spots 'this is a coin problem' before solving (schema-based instruction)
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Doodle
Draw a diagram — draws the bar/tape diagram of the relationships
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Vetta
Look back / check — substitutes the answer back and asks 'does this make sense?'
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Tad
Simplify to a smaller case — solves a tiny version first (2 heads before 100)
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Tagg
Track the units — labels every number ('6 = legs, not chickens'), structure over key-words
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Genny
Generalize — writes the rule that works for any numbers once the specific riddle is solved
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Cass
The scaffold keeper (mentor) — runs understand→plan→execute→look-back and normalizes not knowing the way in
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Browse all chapters → · What's distributed-narrative methodology? →
What's inside
Learning goal
Every riddle has a way in — we'll show you how to find it. Word-problem workshop with an evidence-based solving scaffold (schema + Polya), for ages 9–14.
Question kits
16 curriculum-aligned kits × 25 questions = 400 questions per app, mapped to recognized standards.
On-device AI mentor
FoundationModels-powered hints, feedback, and adaptive difficulty — all running locally.
Mentored by Cass — on-device AI, no data leaves the device.
How ReckonQuest handles your kid's data
- ✅ All progress, settings, and AI-generated content stays on the device
- ✅ No analytics, no tracking, no third-party SDKs
- ✅ No ads, no in-app purchases — you pay once
- ✅ COPPA compliant under the 2026 FTC amendments
- ✅ Parental controls + session limits + content filters built in
ReckonQuest runs on ForgeKit — the open-source Swift Package Manager framework that powers every Spark & Anvil app. ForgeKit ensures consistent accessibility, COPPA compliance, and design language across the portfolio, so your kid's progress and preferences feel coherent across every app they touch.
Coming to the App Store
ReckonQuest is in active development. Email us to hear when it ships — no marketing, no spam, just a one-shot launch announcement.
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