Happy Hump Day BESTies!

I am very excited to share a great new educational app with you! The developer, Clarence Simpson, is a father at my son’s school. A few weeks ago he asked my husband for some feedback on the app. This quickly led to PAC Man testing the app and he absolutely loves it! As a matter of fact, he is using the app as I type :)

Kiduoso-First Words is a free educational app that helps young children learn and practice their first words. While PAC Man is a pro at all things “techy”, my husband and I are still very particular about the apps and games we purchase and download for him. We began with digital books and moved into puzzles soon after. But apps like Kiduoso are very helpful for him because we are still working on his speech development.

What I really like about the app is it’s functionality and easy navigation. Kiduoso is very appealing and the features are great! Kiduoso includes alphabet, number and animal word sets to download for free. Fruit and sport word sets are available as in-app purchases. The music can be turned on or off, the learn modes can be edited several different ways and the parental lock is a definite bonus. My favorite feature of Kiduoso is that you can take photos from your device and make customized word sets for your individual child. We are currently making PAC Man a “Friends & Family” word set that includes his teachers, friends from school and family we do not see that often. Another feature is the Tip of the Day that really helps when you are first getting started. And again, it’s FREE!

I had a chance to interview the developer, Clarence. Read it below and find out how you can win a Kiduoso code that includes all of the in-app purchases for FREE!!

1.Tell me a little about yourself, the company you work for and your job. 

Well, I’ve been a software developer for about 11 years now. I’ve spent about 7 of those years developing games in the local video game industry. The thing about the video game industry, though, is that it’s very volatile and layoffs are common. So, after my most recent layoff in late 2013 I decided that I wanted to try going the self-employed route and see if I could make a decent living selling software that I developed on my own. The “company” I work for is Jarcas Studios, which is really just a brand I’m using for releasing software that I’ve developed myself. There’s no one else involved directly, so I’ve handled design, programming, content creation, marketing, and even the music in Kiduoso believe it or not.

2. How did you come up with the idea for Kiduoso?

I first got the idea when my wife and I heard about this product called “Your Baby Can Read” several years ago. The product made some pretty bold claims about teaching babies to read that later got the company in some serious legal hot water for false advertising. When we were checking out the product, I realized that it was basically just flash cards on DVD. They would show the image. Then, show the word. Then, say the word out loud. That was really the core feature of the whole package. Claims about babies reading aside, I thought the product could still be useful and educational. It had an interesting idea in that it was a way to do flash card style learning with your child without necessarily having to be there beside your child doing the work. It seemed like a great tool for busy parents, long car rides, etc. However, there were a lot of things I didn’t like about it too. I thought it was way overpriced (something like $150 retail price I believe). I wished that I had control over what words were shown because I thought it was silly to try and teach a toddler the word “hippopotamus”, for example. I also didn’t like the fact that, with DVD learning, the child would see the exact same words in the exact same order every time. I felt like that was possibly teaching memorization of order rather than really learning words. So, that’s when I decided that I could make an app that did basically the same thing but greatly improved, highly customizable, and I’d sell it for a fraction of the price.

3. From start to finish, how long did it take you to go from idea to completed app?

I started doing feasibility testing way back in Dec. 2012. I needed to make sure that what I wanted to do was even possible - particularly the Custom Words feature. I spent about a week building a proof-of-concept and then I shelved the project for a while because my youngest son was born shortly thereafter. Then, after I was laid off, I began working on it full-time in Dec. 2013. All told and not counting stretches of time where real life got in the way for various reasons, I’d say I spent about 4-5 months of full-time work developing Kiduoso.

4. What sets Kiduoso apart from others like it that are available?

The #1 unique thing about Kiduoso is definitely the Custom Words feature. I researched a lot of kids’ educational apps and flash card style apps and I never saw one that allowed you to use your device’s built-in camera and microphone to basically create your own flash cards.

5. What other apps have you helped develop? Are you working on others?

I also created an app called GradeWizard a few years ago. It’s a tool for students (typically college students) to track and predict their grades. So, for example, you could enter your grades as you go through your semester and GradeWizard could tell you that if you get 100’s on every remaining assignment/test that you’ll get a B in the class. For now, I’m not working on anything new. I’m just trying to focus on promoting Kiduoso. Assuming the reception of Kiduoso justifies my continued work on it, I plan on updating it with more Word Sets and releasing a version for iOS devices.

6. As the father of two active young boys, what do they think about Kiduoso?

My 16-month old still has a pretty short attention span and doesn’t have the verbal control yet to repeat the words he hears, but he will sit and watch a few Word Sets before getting bored. My 5-year old is at the other end of the spectrum. He knows all the words if you show him the pictures so that’s not a challenge for him. However, he is starting to sight read words by sounding out the letters. So, for him, I can configure Kiduoso to show the word before the image and wait for a tap to advance. That gives him an opportunity to try to sight read the words before seeing the image. That’s the perfect level of challenge for him and he gets excited when he reads words correctly.

7. What has been the greatest moment for you personally throughout the development and release of Kiduoso?

Honestly, reading your husband’s very personal review of the app on Google Play meant a lot. Seeing that the app is making a difference in someone’s life is a great feeling and just makes all the time and effort spent worthwhile.

If you have a child between the ages of 2-4, Kiduoso is a great educational app for them. Please visit Google Play and download it for FREE today! I promise you and your children will love it! Enter below for your chance to win the complete app including all of the in-app purchases for FREE!

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