Meet XANDER, an adorable Dinosaur who loves to teach kids. Xander is a range of educational apps for young children in local languages.
Modern parenting is a demanding job. Participating in sport and culture and feeling the pressure to excel have become standard expectations. Kids are running from Mandarin classes and chess to Kumon and Tai-Chi.
Parents are becoming more desperate for downtime, but are riddled with guilt as they switch on the TV to free up a half-hour for making dinner – which is what makes technology so appealing.
Media warns parents about the havoc that screen-time can wreck upon our beloved children. Parents end up feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to turn. We cannot deny the attraction children have for these screens, but we can also find peace of mind knowing it’s possible for them to learn while they play, using the right apps.
Xander Apps is an award-winning educational mobile solution that has already achieved over 780 000 downloads and has been trusted by parents for the last four years. Apps have been designed to support early learning in local languages and are developed by experienced specialists who are also parents themselves.
Sticking with the founder’s belief in inclusivity, these apps are aimed at children between the ages of two and twelve and currently offer apps in Afrikaans, English, Xhosa, Zulu, Tswana, Sotho, Swahili, and Shona.
With eighty apps in eight languages, parents have a wide variety to choose from for their children’s age and interest. Themes include curriculum-related skills from basic Counting, Shapes and Colours, and Body Parts, to more advanced topics like Learning to Tell Time and Counting in Multiples of 4 and 5.
Parents can further achieve peace of mind by teaching older children about internet safety, guiding them to healthy technology and warning them about the dangers of being online. Help them find good apps that have beautiful sound, simple graphics, work intuitively, are well designed and just “feel good”. Make them aware of in-app purchases, advertisements, content that is not age-appropriate, using too much data or giving personal information.
It’s easy to relax and enjoy some quiet time cooking when we know that our children are engaging with healthy, interactive technology. They’ll be practising fine-motor skills, and feeling empowered at being able to navigate independently instead of just watching a screen passively.
So, spend a few minutes researching healthy technology and you’ll benefit from peace of mind and guilt-free screen-time in the long run.
Xander Apps have been finalists for two years in a row at the AppsAfrica Awards and MTN App of the Year Awards and won “Best Kids App” in the Silicon Beach App Awards.
More information and pedagogical guides can be found on the website or downloaded in the Apple AppStore and Google PlayStore.