Isabella’s Success with Tassomai

Remember the days of study where we had post it notes dotted about the room? Or how we painstakingly wrote out little report cards in different colour pens in the hope that some of the information may go in before the exam? Or cramming furiously under the duvet by torchlight instead of sleeping?

All turned out just fine in the end but I can’t help but wonder if there is a better, more effective way of learning that helps retain and really understand knowledge, rather than purely regurgitate facts in an exam situation and also avoid that horrible pre-exam anxiety.

Tassomai could be that solution. Tassomai is an intelligent on-line learning programme that helps students achieve outstanding results through the use of multiple-choice quizzes to build knowledge and confidence. Whilst focus is mostly on GCSE for Science, French, Maths and Latin, Tassomai also have courses for Common Entrance Level (ages 11-13) for Maths, English, Science, French and Latin) and for 7 to 9 year olds for English and Maths.

Winners of the 2019 Bett Award (the Oscars of the Education technology world!) for Best Education Support Resource for Parents or Home Learning, Tassomai offers both programmes for private and home subscriber use as well as schools. In fact, they boast that 90% of students who used Tassomai regularly achieved C or above in their GCSE science exams… and 50% of them got an A or A*. Impressive stats – just how do they do it?

Little and often with bite-sized chunks is the key and by spacing study time and offering repeated testing with questions tailored to the student, Tassomai can cleverly gauge any weaknesses in knowledge and any questions students get wrong, will reappear until they get right. With all content written by experts in their field, each quiz comprises a series of questions, you can track progress and achieve daily targets by winning “XP” – Tassomai’s reward currency.

Keen to give it a try but not yet at the stage with our children where we are preparing for Common Entrance or GCSE, we thought we would try the courses for 7-9 year olds in Maths and English to set them up in good stead for the coming years. Very easy to set up, I received a unique login, set up a parent account online and we were away! My daughter, aged 8 (going on 11) hopped on the computer, got started straight away and responded really well to the style of the quizzes, whizzing through them at a rate of knots. Motivated by achieving almost 100% each time, she tried more and it was then that this clever system really came into play. It quickly identified any weaker areas, I started to see repeated questions come in (but worded differently) and she really had to think about her answers a little more. Oblivious to it all, she kept answering away, keen to complete each quiz and be awarded her well earnt “XP” (although I did have to explain to her that 790 XP was not going to be exchanged for £790!).  Exclaiming she loves Tassomai, she felt really grown-up for doing the quizzes and with the positive reward structure and I could really see her confidence growing as a result. With Tassomai being also so simple to login and with a handy app that you can download to your smart phone, it meant that we could access the quizzes any time and have since spent many a car journey or waiting even in a theme park queue plugging away at the quizzes online.

As a parent, I also receive regular tracking progress via email highlighting their results and accuracy levels which was great to receive and children can feel a real sense of achievement when they reach their daily goals. The quizzes were relevant, easy to do and based on their school syllabus with language commensurate with their educational level. Financially, at a fraction of the cost of a private tutor, I can really see how this clever system can really work for children to build their knowledge and confidence and actually become a replacement for the traditional tutor. Also, on a practical level, Tassomai can slot very easily into your family life. There are no dashed trips in the Mummy Uber to see Tutors, no-one coming to the house and as the quizzes are short, they can literally be accessed anytime, anywhere – making it the perfect accompaniment to family life.

Thank you Tassomai for the opportunity to take part in and review your educational programme, it has been fantastic and we will certainly revisit when the Common Entrance and GCSE’s start looming. In the words of my daughter “Thank you for making Tassomai so amazing. I love Tassomai because it teaches me new stuff and helps me remember the things I have learnt”. As a parent, who could ask for more?