Why I Created Read2Play™
Like so many parents, I was stuck in the endless battle over screen time. I didn’t want to be the bad guy, constantly taking devices away — but I also didn’t have the time or energy to police them every minute. Honestly? Sometimes I needed them on screens just so I could get things done.
The guilt, though, was enormous. All I wanted was an effective way to get my kids to learn while taking advantage of their love of the screen. If I had that, maybe they would stop being a statistic of a struggling generation.
And I was frustrated. All the educational apps they’d tried, the interest in the app, and the learning that came with it, fell to the wayside.
If I could only make that time matter more.
One day, on the radio, they were discussing how reading levels across the country were dropping drastically and consistently.
And it hit me hard: my own kids were part of those statistics.
That’s when it came to me. Why isn’t there something out there, like a phone app, that could turn screen time into something more beneficial? And hey — why couldn’t I make that happen?
And that’s how Read2Play was born.
An app that works with kids’ love of devices, not against it, by incorporating real learning moments, which in turn builds healthy habits, and finally helps parents ditch the guilt without sacrificing their children’s ability to learn and engage in the world around them.
I am pretty proud of the system I designed because it meets everything I wished my kid had but didn’t exist – an opportunity to use their love of the screen as an opportunity to weave in moments of learning and growth, instead of just zoning out.