Hero quest: a free math and reading game for TK to grade 5
Updated
Hero quest is the practice game inside Toward June. A child builds a hero, then walks it through six lands by answering one question at a time, each one a skill from their own grade. Right answers earn the hero new gear. There are no ads, nothing to buy, no timers and no scores, and you decide how long it runs each day.
How a quest works
The child starts by building a hero: a face, hair, an outfit, a class and a pet. Every option is open to every child, and there is no boy or girl switch. Then each card asks one question, with a few answers to choose from.
- A right answer moves the hero along the path and, every so often, brings a new piece of gear. Crossing the bridge at the end of a land opens the next one.
- A wrong answer shows a picture hint, such as a number line or the dots counted out, and then moves on to a fresh question. The same question is never asked again straight away.
- Reading quests show a short story, sign, letter or fact piece and ask about it. The passage is never read aloud, so it is real reading practice.
- In TK and kindergarten the device voice reads each question aloud, and listening quests ask for the letter or word the voice says.
- Questions get a little harder after two clean answers and a little easier after a miss, so each child stays at their own edge.
What it practises, grade by grade
Every question is tied to a California standard for the child's grade. These are the areas each grade covers.
- TK
- Counting how many, comparing groups, numbers and lengths, naming shapes, and finding the letter the voice says.
- Kindergarten
- Adding and taking away within 10, making a number in different ways, reading numbers to 20, counting to 100, and sight words read aloud by the voice.
- Grade 1
- Adding and subtracting within 20 and 100, ten more and ten less, telling time to the half hour, picture graphs, story problems to 20, sight words, and short stories and fact pieces to read.
- Grade 2
- Three-digit numbers, adding and subtracting within 100, coins, time to five minutes, arrays, halves, thirds and fourths, bar graphs, measuring with a ruler, and story problems to 100.
- Grade 3
- Multiplying and dividing within 100, fractions, adding and subtracting within 1000, area and perimeter, time to the minute, scaled graphs, and two-step story problems.
- Grade 4
- Multiplying and dividing multi-digit numbers, comparing and adding fractions, tenths and hundredths, angles, units of length, factors, number patterns, and line plots with fractions.
- Grade 5
- Decimals, multiplying multi-digit numbers, adding fractions with different denominators, multiplying fractions, and multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000.
How it follows the report card
If a report card you confirmed in Toward June this school year shows a latest mark below 3 on a standard the game practises, about half of your child's math cards come from that area, and the rest range over the whole grade so practice never turns into a drill. A reading line below 3 brings more reading quests in that kind of text. Your child never sees a mark, a standard or a count.
What it never does
- No ads and no purchases, in the game or anywhere a child can reach.
- No timers, no scores, no streaks and no counts of right or wrong answers.
- No comparing one child with another.
- No AI while your child plays. Math questions are built and checked by code, and reading passages are fixed and reviewed before they are served.
What you control
- Daily play time, off by default, from 5 to 45 minutes a day. It adds up across the day and resets at midnight.
- A PIN, so only a grown-up can leave the game.
- A list on your child's progress page of the skills practised in the last 30 days, with no counts.
- A keepsake card of the hero and the lands crossed, which you can save or share. It shows nothing about your child.