How to let kids learn really fast

Some people think Mentava’s results are a miracle. I do not.

If a kid can learn fast, we let them learn fast. If a kid learns slower, we let them learn slower.

This should be common sense, but unfortunately it’s opposed by the National Education Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Council of Teachers in Mathematics, and many other groups who drive education policy.

Mentava’s early literacy software has taken 2yos (almost 3) to an early 2nd grade reading level in as little as 3 months.

It’s a tragic indictment of our education system that Mentava simply reveals how fast some kids can learn and people think it’s a miracle.

Mentava’s early literacy software has two main ingredients: curriculum + motivation

• There’s nothing revolutionary about Mentava’s curriculum. Our curriculum is a typical, extremely structured phonics curriculum. There is a massive body of evidence (and common sense) backing the idea that kids should learn to read by sounding out words.

• Armed with any decent phonics curriculum, I would expect a skilled parent/teacher who can motivate, engage, and teach a kid 1-1 on a daily basis over a period of several months to get similar results to our software.

(I frequently recommend the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons as a cheaper alternative to Mentava.)

So why do some families choose to pay $500/month for Mentava?

Well, not everyone has the time/motivation/desire to become that teacher. Some people do, and they love that process.

On the other hand, some families come to Mentava and say, “I used that book to teach my first child to read. It worked, we both hated it, and I will never do it again.”

By contrast, my 4yo wakes me up in the morning asking to do Mentava. He gets mad in the evenings when I don’t have time to do it with him. He LOVES learning to read.

What Mentava does exceptionally well is provide motivation and fun - without sacrificing academic rigor.

Our team members led some of the top mobile and AAA games in the world. We are very very good at motivation design.

In short, we take phonics and gamify it to be as fun, easy, efficient, and motivating as we can possibly make it.

So, claims:

• Mentava works really, really well for SOME kids

• Mentava probably does not work well for ALL kids

• Under ideal conditions, other phonics programs will probably perform similarly to Mentava (or better!)

No research study will tell you whether Mentava is the best fit for your family.

So we offer a two-week free trial.

That’s enough time for some families to make it most of the way through our kindergarten curriculum.

Use Mentava with the kids it works for. Don't use it with kids for whom it doesn't.

Don’t overcomplicate things.