Episode 5 - Building educational apps with Tim Dikun (Teaching.com)

1 in 4 children in America right now grows up without learning how to read — and we can't just fix it with "more school."

In fact, only 35% of public school students are rated at or above 'Proficient' in grade 4 reading, and a full 37% of children arrive at kindergarten without the skills necessary for lifetime learning.


Tim Dikun and the folks at Teaching.com don't think that's acceptable, so they're doing something about it.


Per the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), regardless of household income or background, educational success starts at home —

Children who are read to at least 3x per week are almost 2x as likely to score in the top 25% in reading compared to children who are not, and students with involved parents are more likely to have better behavior, higher grades, better attendance, and better social skills while being less likely to develop behavioral issues and have low self-esteem, so Teaching.com created an app (Reading.com) to help encourage 1-to-1 reading in a family environment.


Reading.com isn't just an "Edutainment app" — something parents give their kids to keep them distracted. It's an app that parents and children do together...which is the very key to unlocking children's educational success.


As parents ourselves, Paul and I were so excited to interview Tim and understand Teaching.com's mission, strategy, and the lessons he's learned on the journey to launch Reading.com.


This episode is a great listen for parents, educators, and folks who are getting started on the app design process!

Nationally, only about half of children between birth and five years (47.8%) are read to every day by their parents or other family members,  let's help turn that stat around with Reading.com. 


Reading.com can currently be found on the Apple App Store:
🍎 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/reading-com-learn-to-read/id1534938305

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