Open the app preview
Ponder

A guided-learning preview

Think it through.Grow from there.

Meet Ponder, a learning guide who asks a helpful question before giving the answer, offers one hint at a time, and leaves the thinking to the learner. Families follow along. Teachers see the bigger picture.

Explore the interactive app See how it works
Learner · try, hint, go at your pace Family · follow along School · a clearer class picture

The questions Ponder is being built for. Written the way learners actually ask them.

01 On every screen

One guide, lit for phone, tablet and desktop.

Drag the ring, use the arrows, or focus it and press ← →. Every screen is built in HTML as a preview, not a screenshot of a shipped app.

Learner
Fractions · question 3 of 6

What fraction of the bar is shaded?

Hint 1 of 3
Count every equal part first. That’s the whole, and it goes on the bottom.
3/?
Another hintCheck
Family

Mia’s week

Fractions: the whole and its parts
Exploring · 3 sessions · 4 hints asked for
Times tables: 6s and 7s
Practising · 2 sessions
Suggested next step

At snack time, ask Mia to share something into quarters and name one piece.

In Mia’s words
“The bottom number is how many pieces the whole is cut into.”
This weekMon–Fri
ponder · school
Class 4BTopicsPatternsNotes

Fractions · this week

26 learners
Where the class is
Pattern spotted
Several learners asked what “the whole” means in question 4.
Your call
A 10-minute warm-up on “the whole”?
Add to ThursdayNot now
PonderPreview
Why is 1/8 smaller than 1/4? 8 is bigger!
Great question to ask. Picture one pizza. Would you rather share it with 4 people or 8?
4… oh, then I get more.
So what happens to each slice when there are more of them?
Type your thinking…Send
My journal

Things I figured out

“The bottom number is how many equal parts.”
Tue · Fractions
“7 × 6 is 7 × 5 plus one more 7.”
Wed · Times tables
How sure I felt
What helped most
Drawing itOne hint
ponder · learner
Fractions · question 4

Shade 3/4 of the pizza.

You shaded 3 of 4 equal slices.
Check my thinking
Ponder
What does the 4 tell you?
14 equal slices make the whole.
2When you’re ready
3Locked
Phone · Learner

A question, and one hint

The learner tries first.

02 A look inside Ponder

One small moment, followed all the way through.

A learner types “I don’t understand 3/4.” Scroll to watch what Ponder does next, and what the family and the teacher see afterwards.

Step 1 of 7
  1. 01Learner space

    “I don’t understand 3/4.”

    Mia is stuck on homework. She opens Ponder and says so, in her own words. There’s no menu of topics to navigate first and no pressure to phrase it perfectly.

  2. 02Learner space

    Ponder asks what the whole is

    Instead of explaining fractions from the top, Ponder asks one helpful question: what are we taking three-quarters of? Most fraction confusion starts there.

    Why: a question first tells Ponder where the thinking actually broke down.

  3. 03Learner space

    One hint, only when asked

    Mia asks for help. She gets the first rung of a three-step hint ladder, nothing more. The next rung stays locked until she chooses to ask again.

  4. 04Learner space

    She tries, and explains it back

    Mia shades three of the four slices. Ponder doesn’t just say “correct”. It asks how she decided, so she says the idea in her own words.

  5. 05Learner space

    A ten-second reflection

    What helped, and how sure does she feel? Her answers go in her own journal. It’s her record of what she figured out, not a grade.

  6. 06Family space

    Family sees the next step

    Later, her dad sees a short, plain summary: what she worked on, that she needed one hint, and one easy thing to try together at home.

    Why: families want to help, not decode a dashboard.

  7. 07School space

    The teacher sees a class pattern

    Across the class, several learners got stuck on the same idea. Ponder surfaces the pattern. The teacher decides whether it’s worth a warm-up, and whether Ponder is even right.

03 Three spaces

Each person gets the view they need.

Real screens from the Ponder app. Pick a space to see what you can do there. Names on these screens are examples.

For the person doing the thinking

Learner space

  • Ask in your own words. Type what’s confusing, or pick up a task your class has set. No need to know the “right” term.
  • Try first, then one hint at a time. A three-rung hint ladder that opens only when you ask for the next rung.
  • Reflect in ten seconds. Say how sure you feel and what helped. It goes in your own journal, not a grade book.
  • Earn Think Points for effort. Wrong answers never lose points. Pieces build your avatar and unlock the Challenge Arcade and Snake.
Try a question How the hints work
Ponder app on a phone: a fractions question about a pizza, with Ponder asking “What do you notice?” and the hint ladder still locked
Ponder asks what you notice before any hint.
The hint ladder with two of three hints open and the third waiting until the learner asks, plus how Think Points are earned
Hints open one rung at a time, only when asked.
The question solved as 3/4, followed by a short reflection: how sure do you feel and what helped
Solved it? A quick reflection, in your own words.
The learner’s Quest home: avatar greeting, Think Points, a thinking streak with a rest day, puzzle pieces and the weekly Quest
Think Points, a forgiving streak and this week’s Quest.

Go at your own pace

No timers, no streak guilt. Stop mid-question and pick it up tomorrow.

Reflection over scores

“What helped?” and “how sure do you feel?” come first. Points reward effort, never marks, and there’s no public leaderboard.

Made for Australian learners

Shaped with families and educators in mind, with Australian year levels and spelling.

04 Schools and families, connected

Teacher, parent and learner, on the same page.

A school sets up its classes. A teacher invites a parent with a one-time link. The parent links their child’s family profile. From then on, home and school see the same homework and progress, and nothing more.

A school sets up its classes

A school admin registers the school and adds year levels, classes, teachers and students. Ponder verifies the school before any parent invitations can go out.

  • Teachers see only their class

    A teacher sees the students in the classes they’re assigned to. The database enforces it with row-level security, not just the screen.

  • Parents see only their own child

    A family space shows the children in that family, and school details only for a child who has been linked. The school sees the child’s Ponder name, year level and avatar.

  • Nothing links until the parent accepts

    One link, for one email, used once, expiring after 21 days. Decline it, or simply ignore it, and nothing is shared.

Coming soon Invitation emails sent by Ponder. Teachers can also copy the link or a ready-made email and send it themselves.

School and Family spaces with parent linking work in the Ponder app today. Names on this page are examples.

Set up your school I have an invitation link

05 One moment, three views

Same Tuesday afternoon. Different eyes.

Mia sees her own thinking

Her question, the one hint she used, the moment it clicked, and her own words about why.

Sees
  • Her questions and tries
  • Hints she opened
  • Her private journal
Never sees
  • Other learners’ work
  • Public rankings or comparisons

Her dad sees what to try tonight

A short summary of what she worked on, how much help she needed, and one easy next step for home.

Sees
  • Topics this week
  • Hints used, roughly
  • A suggested next step
Doesn’t see
  • Every keystroke
  • Comparisons with classmates

Her teacher sees the class pattern

Not Mia in isolation, but a pattern across the class that might be worth ten minutes on Thursday.

Sees
  • Shared sticking points
  • Which ideas need revisiting
  • Suggestions to accept or ignore
Stays with the teacher
  • Every decision about teaching
  • Judgement on each learner
Tue · 4:10 pm · Fractions: finding the whole

06 Help that shows, not tells

Ponder shows you how.

Tap “?” on any screen of the app and Ponder walks you through it, one highlighted step at a time. Walkthroughs that create things, like adding a child or setting up a school, can run in practice mode with sample data, so nothing real changes.

Add a child · step 1 of 5

An example walkthrough: adding a child in practice mode.

16 walkthroughs, each with step-by-step instructions in the Help centre and a “Show me in the app” button.

Start here

Learners

Parents and carers

Teachers

School admins

Open the Help centre

07 AI with a purpose

An AI guide that holds back on purpose.

Ask Ponder runs on Claude. The scenarios below are scripted examples of how Ponder holds back on purpose; ask your own question underneath to try the real thing. The principles on the right light up as they come into play.

Ponderwith a learner, Year 5
Scripted example
A scripted example, not a live reply.

  1. 1Asks before answering

    A question back comes first, so the learner does the thinking and Ponder learns where they’re stuck.

  2. 2One hint at a time

    Help arrives in small rungs, only when asked. Never the whole solution in one go.

  3. 3Adults stay in control

    Parents and teachers make the decisions. Ponder suggests; it never overrides.

  4. 4Can be wrong

    Ponder says when it isn’t sure. Human judgement matters, and it’s built into the flow.

Try it liveAsk Ponder a learning question, or anything about the app. Your question opens in the Ask Ponder chat.

Ponder asks a question back before explaining. Please don’t share names or personal details.

08 Gifted pathway

Finds their year too easy? Try next year’s.

The next-year challenge is a hard test for the learner’s own year. Pass it and Ponder opens up next-year learning, so strong learners keep being stretched.

  • HardA tough test for their current year, built to find learners ready for more.
  • 85%The pass mark. Scored by Ponder’s database, never in the browser.
  • 2 a weekTwo attempts per test each week, so there’s time to learn between tries.
  • Same yearTheir official school year never changes. Only the level of Ponder’s learning does.

Grown-ups stay in control. A parent starts it from the Family space, or a teacher from the class roster. Once a family and school are linked, the family sees school challenge results too.

Try the free Challenge Check How the gifted pathway works
Maths challenge: Year 5 → Year 6Example result
90%18 of 20 correct
Next-year learning unlocked: Year 6 maths
Official school year
Year 5, unchanged
Attempts this week
1 of 2 used
Each challenge has 20 questions. Maths and English come first, with more subjects to follow.

09 Plans that fit the learner

A plan for any subject, checked by a person.

Here is how learning plans work in Ponder, and how people stay in charge of them.

  1. In the app now

    Pick any subject, to learn or improve

    From English and maths to HASS, the arts and languages, Pre-primary to Year 12 and beyond. Choose “learn something new” or “improve”, and it shapes what Ponder suggests.

  2. In the app now

    Grades and teacher comments

    Parents and teachers record results in the school’s own scale (A–E, 1–7 or percentages), with the teacher’s comment kept word for word. When a family is linked, school results appear on the child’s profile.

  3. In the app now

    A learning plan suggested by Claude

    Strengths, two to four focus areas and a four-week plan, written three ways: for the learner, the parent and the teacher. A teacher approves the plan before a family sees it.

  4. Coming soon

    Report cards read, then checked by you

    Upload a report card and Claude reads it into results. You check every field beside the page before anything is saved. It switches on only after passing a 95% accuracy test, and nothing is used to train models.

Example planExample

Your next four weeks

You’re great at: times tables up to 10.

Let’s work on: fractions of a whole.

  1. Week 1Equal parts, 10 minutes a day
  2. Week 2Naming fractions
  3. Week 3Comparing fractions
  4. Week 4Check-in challenge

Check-in: can you explain what the bottom number means?

How you can help at home

Strength: quick and confident with times tables.

Focus: fractions, especially what “the whole” is.

Try this week: fold paper into quarters at dinner and ask what one piece is called.

Based on: Term 2 maths result (B) and the teacher’s comment “needs to consolidate fractions”.

Next-lesson ideas

Focus: fractions of a whole (Number strand).

Grouping: a small group on equal parts before Thursday’s lesson.

Based on: Term 2 result and four hints used on “the whole”. Confidence: medium. Not known: whether question wording caused the errors.

Approve and shareEditReject

Suggestions, not diagnoses. No labels about ability, no comparing a child with classmates by name, and every plan says what it’s based on. People can edit or dismiss anything.

10 Ponder Quest

Reward the thinking, not just the answer.

Every bit of real thinking earns Think Points and puzzle pieces. Pieces build your own avatar, points unlock family arcade classics like Snake, and friendly weekly charts celebrate effort, all under grown-up control.

In the app now Saved to each learner’s account when signed in.

1Think Points

Points for effort, not luck

1,240Think Points in total
+185this week
(the weekly total drives the charts)
  • +10Tried before asking for a hint
  • +15Explained an answer
  • +5Finished a reflection
  • +10Came back to a tricky topic
  • +10Got it right
Lucky guess+10
Wrong, then tried again+25

Points are never taken away. A wrong answer followed by another try earns more than a lucky guess.

2Streaks

A thinking streak that forgives

12-day thinking streak

Counts days with at least one finished question or game.

Two rest days a week keep a streak alive, so missing a day never wipes out progress. Milestones at 3, 7, 14 and 30 days award bonus puzzle pieces.

3Puzzle pieces

Pieces build your own avatar

  • Hair
  • Outfits
  • Glasses
  • Backgrounds
  • Companion pet
  • Victory animation

Finished questions and games, streak milestones and the weekly Quest award pieces. A full set unlocks an avatar item. It’s the face learners show on charts, so no real photos or names are needed.

4Challenge Arcade

Age-based games for every subject

  • Maths
  • English
  • Science
  • Humanities (HASS)
  • Languages
  • Digital Technologies
  • Wellbeing
Levelled by age band
    This week’s Quest5 fraction challenges3/5

    Quick-fire rounds: five questions, no timer, and a wrong answer never loses points. Winning is finishing the weekly Quest or beating your own best, and it earns a celebration, Think Points and puzzle pieces.

    5Prizes & the Retro Arcade

    Unlock Snake. Then play it together.

    Unlocks at a points goal Play together 10 min per unlock

    Classic games unlock only when a points goal is met. The first play of each game is a Play together moment: Ponder prompts a parent or carer to show their child how they played it “back in the day”. Arcade time is capped so learning stays the main event.

    Also in the arcade: BlocksBreakoutPong

    Family prizeChoose Friday’s dinnerat 400 points
    Family prizeA trip to the parkfinish the fractions Quest

    Parents set their own real-world family prizes, tied to points or the weekly Quest. Ponder tracks progress; the family decides and delivers.

    Top 10 charts

    Friendly charts, done safely

    Weekly Think Points · resets Monday

      Private groups only: a family, or a class at school. Never a public leaderboard. Ranked by weekly Think Points, so effort counts, with avatars and nicknames only. Learners can hide themselves.

      Grown-ups stay in control

      Parents choose what’s on

      Parents choose which features are on (charts, arcade, streak reminders), set arcade time limits and create family prizes. Learners can hide themselves from any chart.

      • No ads
      • No purchases
      • No loot boxes
      • Every reward is earned by learning
      • No child data shared outside the family or class
      Family settings
      Top 10 chartsPrivate family and class charts
      Retro ArcadeUnlocks at points goals
      Streak remindersA gentle nudge, never a guilt trip
      Arcade time per unlockLearning stays the main event10 min
      Family prizeChoose Friday’s dinner · 400 pointsSet by you

      In the app now. Signed in, Ponder Quest saves to each learner’s account, with private weekly Top 10 charts for a family or a class. Signed out, the guided preview uses sample data on this device. Family prizes and Quest settings are saved on the device for now.

      11 Plans and pricing

      Try it free for 14 days, then pick your plan.

      Individual, Family and School plans, in Australian dollars with GST included.

      Pricing details and common questions →

      12 Trust & privacy

      Honest about what this is.

      Ponder is in preview, heading to launch. Here is exactly where things stand.

      A preview, heading to launch

      Ponder runs in your browser today, with Google or email sign-in. Phone and desktop apps come later.

      Real accounts stay private

      Names on this page are examples. Real accounts are private to each family and school, protected by row-level security in the database.

      Guardians and schools decide

      A parent links a child to a school only by accepting the school’s invitation, and grown-ups choose which Quest features are on.

      Not ready means labelled

      Anything not switched on yet, like report-card reading and paid plans, is labelled that way, here and in the app.

      In the app now

      • Ask Ponder and hints in Learn, powered by Claude
      • Subjects, grades and learning plans
      • School and family spaces, with parent linking
      • Ponder Quest, saved to each learner’s account
      • Download or delete your data
      • Account data stored in Sydney

      Being built

      • Class-level patterns for educators
      • Report-card reading (in accuracy testing)

      Before launch

      • Independent privacy review
      • Lawyer review of the privacy policy and terms
      • Independent security assessment

      Let’s think it through, together.

      Open the interactive preview, meet Ponder, choose a space and try a question with the hint ladder.

      Explore the interactive app See how it works
      Ponder smiling