Academics
TimesQuest
Build multiplication, division, fractions on the number line, and area with Arlo the array-ant and friends — CRA manipulatives with read-aloud check-kits, for grade 3 (ages 8–9).
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 Marlo
#3E7CB1 Distributed-narrative cast
Meet the cast
TimesQuest's grade-3 bridge-band cast (hero-anchored, ages 8–9) embodies the CCSS grade-3 major work as concrete math-friends in the Times Workshop — lining a crew into equal rows to make an array (Arlo the ant, the hero, multiplication), sharing a pile fairly (Divi the otter, division, the array backwards), splitting a hard fact into two easy ones (Parti the beaver, break-apart / distributive), cutting a whole into equal steps and standing on the number line (Una the inchworm, unit fractions as numbers), tiling a rectangle with unit squares (Mosa the tortoise, area = rows × columns), and recalling a fact till it pops (Zola the roadrunner, fact fluency). Arlo stays the protagonist and Workshop host; the cast are Workshop friends. Every check-kit stem is read aloud; the manipulatives are the learning and the MC is the check. CRA / Bruner ladder — manipulatives before symbols. Math-anxiety gate: keeper Marlo the fennec fox meets a wrong answer with curiosity, never a sting; NEVER a timer on facts; no child is compared; a wrong answer is where learning starts.
Arlo
Multiplication — equal groups & arrays (hero) — a tidy ant who marches a crew into equal rows to make an array; repeated equal groups IS multiplication (CCSS 3.OA)
Divi
Division — a fair-minded otter who deals a pile out into equal groups; division is the array shared back out, and the inverse of a times fact (CCSS 3.OA)
Parti
Distributive / break-apart → fluency — a beaver who splits a hard fact into two easy known ones (7×8 = 7×5 + 7×3) and adds the parts (CCSS 3.OA.B.5)
Una
Unit fractions on the number line — a green inchworm who cuts a whole into exactly equal steps and stands on the line; 1/4 is a number, a place (CCSS 3.NF)
Mosa
Area & the array–area link — a slow, sure tortoise who tiles a rectangle with unit squares; area IS rows × columns, and the edge is perimeter (CCSS 3.MD)
Zola
Fact fluency (anti-shame) — a quick roadrunner who practices a fact till it pops; speed is a gift of kind practice, never a timed test, never a race lost (CCSS 3.OA.C.7)
Marlo
Mentor — a big-eared fennec fox who keeps the Times Workshop; meets every wrong answer with 'show me your thinking', never a sting; a mistake is a map, not a verdict
What's inside
Learning goal
Build multiplication, division, fractions on the number line, and area with Arlo the array-ant and friends — CRA manipulatives with read-aloud check-kits, for grade 3 (ages 8–9).
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 Marlo — on-device AI, no data leaves the device.
How TimesQuest 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
TimesQuest 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
TimesQuest is in active development. Email us to hear when it ships — no marketing, no spam, just a one-shot launch announcement.
Email me at launch