JubboPre-order

Jubbo for teenagers

For teenagers, and written like it — no baby voice and no small talk.

The oldest band gets the hardest vocabulary ladder and the longest stories, and it gets a box that does not perform enthusiasm at it. The lines are shorter and plainer here than at any other age.

Most of what a twelve-to-fifteen-year-old will use this for is vocabulary and spelling — the words that turn up in exams and in reading, taught and then checked, with the ones they missed coming back a few sessions later rather than immediately.

It is worth saying plainly what this is not: it is not a tutor, and it will not help with a syllabus. It drills words and it tells stories. A teenager who wants something to talk to will find it dull, by design.

A round, as it sounds

“Your word is intrinsic. Spell it, all together.” … “I. N. T. R. I. N. S. I. C.” … “Right.”

What plays at 12–15

8 of the activities are available to a child this age.

  • Story Time

    Ages 315 · about 8 minutes

    A new story every day, written for your child’s age and read out loud.

    Jubbo says what the story is about, then reads it — several chapters, with the sounds of the place worked in. If bedtime cuts it short, the next time you start it, it picks up at the chapter it stopped on.

  • Story Builder

    Ages 315 · about 7 minutes

    Make up a story together, out loud, turn by turn.

    Jubbo offers a beginning and asks what happens next. Your child says a line, Jubbo takes it and adds one, and they trade until the story finds an ending.

  • Vocabulary

    Ages 615 · about 10 minutes

    New words taught first, then checked.

    Jubbo teaches a word — what it means, and a sentence using it — and comes back to it later in the session to ask. Words your child missed return in a later session, not the same one.

  • Spelling Bee

    Ages 615 · about 8 minutes

    Jubbo says a word and what it means; your child spells it out loud.

    The word, a short meaning, and a sentence it fits in — then “spell it, all together”. One retry, and if it is still not there Jubbo spells it: “huge is spelled H. U. G. E.”

  • Say It In English

    Ages 615 · about 8 minutes

    Jubbo asks in your language; your child answers in English.

    A short sentence in Hindi or Gujarati, then a pause, then your child says it in English. Word order is the point, so Jubbo never repeats a mistake back — it says the sentence properly and has your child say it once more.

    Needs Hindi or Gujarati as the language spoken at home.

  • Revise a chapterComing to the app

    Ages 615 · about 6 minutes

    Photograph a chapter from your child’s schoolbook; Jubbo asks about it.

    You photograph the pages in the app and watch the chapter get ready. Jubbo then asks eight questions drawn from it, easiest first — a right answer moves on, a wrong one gets the answer and the reason and moves on too. No retries, and no chapter is asked about twice in a row.

    Works with any board or syllabus, because the questions come from the pages you scanned.

  • Mental MathsComing to the app

    Ages 615 · about 5 minutes

    Sums in your head — and the trick, when your child needs it.

    Seven rungs of difficulty, starting in the middle and moving with your child rather than with the clock. The method for a sum is taught only when they miss one, so a child who can already do it is not slowed down being told how.

  • Table Time

    Ages 315 · about 5 minutes

    The times tables, chanted out loud and answered back.

    Jubbo keeps the rhythm of the chant and your child fills in the answer. A right answer gets a tick and the next line straight away; a wrong one gets the fact said plainly and rolled into the next.