The parent Command Center
Most parents learn how school is going from a report card a few times a year and the word "fine" most evenings. The Command Center is the view in between: a calm page on your phone that shows how each of your children is doing, subject by subject, and what to do about it.
It is designed to take about two minutes a day.
Try a question — free, no account
How to know how your child is really doing in school
No app can tell you everything, and it would be odd to claim otherwise. A clear picture comes from three sources together.
Ask the teacher a specific question
"How is she doing?" usually gets "fine" from a teacher too. A narrower question gets a useful answer: "What is the one maths skill she should practise at home this month?" or "Is he reading at the level you would expect for this point in the year?" Teachers see your child every day and are the best first conversation.
Look at the work that comes home
Marked worksheets, spelling tests and reading logs show what the class is covering now. The pattern matters more than any single score: the same kind of mistake three weeks running says more than one bad Tuesday. For ways to open the conversation with your child, see 12 better questions than "How was school?".
Watch a little practice, regularly
Short, regular practice shows you things a report card cannot: which skills are steady, which ones keep slipping, and whether effort is going up or down. This is what the Command Center is for. It turns a few minutes of your child's practice each day into a view you can read in the time it takes to make a cup of tea.
What the Command Center shows you
Each child, or cadet, has their own page. The picture is built from the questions they answer in Dad's Academy, in Math, English and Reading, Science and Life Skills, for kindergarten to grade 9.
Accuracy by subject, and the trend
How often your child is answering correctly in each subject, and whether that is rising, holding or slipping over recent days. A subject that slips for a week is worth a look. A subject that has been steady for a month can be left alone.
The skills they miss most
Not just "maths: 72%", but the specific skills behind it, such as comparing fractions or finding the main idea in a passage, ordered by how often they are missed. This is usually the most useful line on the page, and the most useful thing to mention to a teacher.
Time spent practising
How long your child spent on their reviews, and on which days. It helps tell the difference between "this is hard for her" and "she rushed it".
What you can do from it
A view is only useful if you can act on it.
Assign practice in a tap
See a skill that keeps slipping and assign practice on it directly. It appears in your child's next review, at their level. There is nothing to print and nothing to set up.
Ask Pip about your child's progress
Pip is the companion your child meets in the app. On your side, you can ask Pip about your child's progress in plain language, for example "What has Maya found hardest in maths this week?", and get a short, specific answer drawn from her practice. This is available on the free plan and the paid plan.
Line practice up with class (paid plan)
With This Week at School, part of the paid plan, you or your child can send in what was covered in class, as a photo of the worksheet or a few lines of text. The following week's Math, English and Science reviews are built around it.
Set screen time on the family PC (paid plan, Windows)
On the paid plan, the Command Center is also where you manage earn-to-play screen time. With the Windows companion app installed, your child's PC opens to a short review first, and screen time is earned by learning. You set the rules and can grant time yourself. The companion app is for Windows PCs only. How earned screen time works
Two minutes a day: an example evening
Theo is in grade 3. His parent opens the Command Center after dinner.
- Reading is steady. Nothing to do.
- Maths dipped over three days, and the skill he misses most is subtraction with regrouping.
- He spent about the same time as usual, so it is probably not rushing.
His parent assigns a short set on subtraction with regrouping for tomorrow and makes a note to ask his teacher whether the class has just started it. That is the whole visit.
(Theo is a fictional example.)
One account for the whole family
A household can have several cadets under one parent account, each with their own levels, their own page and their own settings. Siblings in different grades each get practice at their own level, and you see them side by side. On the paid plan, each additional cadet is 25% off. Pricing
Yours, not theirs: privacy and control
The parent owns the account and every setting. Dad's Academy is sold to you, never past your child: there are no ads shown to children and no upsells aimed at them inside the app. Your child sees their own questions and progress. The detailed view is yours. Privacy policy
What is free and what is on the paid plan
Dad's Academy is free to start, with no card required, and you can cancel anytime.
| Free | Paid plan (per cadet) | |
|---|---|---|
| Parent Command Center | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ask Pip about your child's progress | ✓ | ✓ |
| Questions per day | 5 | Unlimited |
| Subjects | One, rotating across the week | All four |
| Adaptive level-up per subject | — | ✓ |
| Assign practice in a tap | ✓ | ✓ |
| This Week at School | — | ✓ |
| Earn-to-play screen time (Windows PC companion) | — | ✓ |
On the free plan, five questions a day in one subject is enough to start seeing a pattern, but the picture fills in faster with all four subjects and unlimited practice. Prices are shown in your local currency on the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
- How can I tell how my child is really doing in school?
- Use three sources together: a specific question to the teacher, the pattern in the work that comes home, and a few minutes of regular practice you can see. The Command Center covers the third. It shows accuracy by subject, the skills your child misses most and the time they spend practising.
- What does the parent Command Center show?
- For each child and each subject: recent accuracy and its trend, the skills they miss most often, and time spent practising. You can assign practice on a skill in a tap and ask Pip about your child's progress.
- How long does it take each day?
- It is designed for about two minutes. Most days you will glance at it and move on. On the days something slips, you can assign practice from the same screen.
- Can I see more than one child?
- Yes. Each child has their own cadet profile, levels and page under one parent account, and on the paid plan each additional cadet is 25% off.
- Does my child see what I see?
- No. Your child sees their own questions and progress in the app. The Command Center, and every setting, belongs to the parent account.
- Do I need the Windows app to use the Command Center?
- No. The Command Center works in any web browser and is designed for a phone. The Windows companion app is only needed for earn-to-play screen time, which is on the paid plan.
- Is the Command Center free?
- Yes. Every parent account includes the Command Center, and on the free plan you can ask Pip about your child's progress and assign practice in a tap. Adaptive levelling, all four subjects, unlimited practice, This Week at School and earn-to-play screen time are on the paid plan. You can start free, with no card required.
- Will it tell me if my child has a learning difficulty?
- No. It shows practice results, not a diagnosis. If something worries you, start with your child's teacher. Our checklist, Is my child behind in math?, can help you prepare for that conversation.
See the view for yourself.
Look around the Command Center with a sample family, or try one question with your child. Neither needs an account.