Frequently asked questions about Smartinga

There are two subscriptions, both with everything: reading, words and maths.

• 1 child: €2.99 a month or €24.99 a year.
• Family, up to 3 children: €4.99 a month or €39.99 a year.

VAT is included in all prices. There is also a free part that needs no subscription.

You try everything free for 14 days, without payment details; you only create an account. After that nothing is charged automatically: you decide whether to take a subscription, and otherwise your child keeps the free part.

Already sure? Choose a subscription straight away and enter your payment details: payments then start automatically after the 14 days, and until then you can stop free of charge. There is one free trial per account.

Luisteren (listening) and Niveau 1 with their games (in maths the first two levels, counting and up to 10). Also a number of flash-card decks, every reading comprehension text at Niveau 1 and one per level after that, and the first practice test of Niveau 2. That stays free, after the trial too.

Choose 1 child for one child, or Family for up to 3 children. Each child has a profile of their own, with their own level. A child who joins later uses the free part until you switch; you can switch to Family at any time.

By iDEAL, credit or debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Bancontact. If you pay by iDEAL or Bancontact, later payments are made by direct debit. Payments go through Stripe; Smartinga never sees your full bank or card number.

Online, through the parents' area of the app, as easily as you signed up.

• A monthly subscription can be cancelled whenever you like. You pay nothing more, and your child keeps everything until the end of the paid month.
• A yearly subscription runs for one year and then stops by itself. A month before the end you see this in the parents' area, and with ‘Verlengen’ (renew) you can add another year if you want to.

If you pay straight away, without a free trial (for example because you have tried Smartinga before), you can withdraw within 14 days of buying it: in the parents' area, with ‘Hier de overeenkomst ontbinden’ (cancel the contract here). You get the full amount back. During a free trial you pay nothing yet.

For children of about 4 to 12, groep 1 to 8 at a Dutch primary school. Your child starts at their own level and climbs step by step:

• Luisteren (listening): groep 1–2.
• Niveau 1 Eerste woorden (first words): groep 3.
• Niveau 2 Korte zinnen (short sentences): groep 3.
• Niveau 3 Leren lezen (learning to read): groep 3.
• Niveau 4 Vlot lezen (reading fluently): groep 4.
• Niveau 5 Lezen om te leren (reading to learn): groep 5–6.
• Niveau 6 Goed lezen (reading well): groep 7–8.

Maths comes along, from counting to fractions and percentages. This is a guide, not a rule: you choose the level that suits your child.

Broadly, yes. The reading levels follow how Dutch schools teach reading and roughly match the AVI levels, from AVI Start to AVI Plus; it is not an official AVI assessment. Maths follows the order in which Dutch primary schools teach it: counting and splitting numbers first, then the times tables, later fractions and percentages.

Smartinga is not a school method. It is for practising at home, alongside school.

You choose the level and change it whenever you like, in the parents' area. Reading and maths each have their own level, so a child can be further along in maths than in reading.

In maths Smartinga also adapts by itself: when it goes well, a little harder; when it does not, a little easier. There is no red, and ‘Weet ik niet’ (I don't know) is always allowed.

Smartinga is not a treatment for dyslexia and does not replace help from school or a specialist. It does have tools that can make reading easier:

• the app reads every word and every story aloud, slowly too;
• up to Niveau 3, a word can be split into its sounds and blended back together;
• the letters can be large or extra large;
• the ‘Helder’ look adds extra space between the letters.

Not sure? Talk to your child's school.

Yes. The app reads every word and every story aloud in a clear Dutch voice, so your child hears how it sounds.

In the parents' area you can switch on ‘Uitleg in het Engels bij woorden en zinnen’ (English help for words and sentences). Your child then sees the English meaning of a tapped word or sentence, and the reading comprehension questions in English too. The buttons, maths and the parents' area stay in Dutch.

In the browser on a tablet, phone or computer. Add Smartinga to the home screen and it opens like an app. It is not in the App Store or Play Store yet.

With an account, your child can pick up on another device where they left off.

Partly. Opening it for the first time, and opening something new, needs internet. Anything your child has opened before also works offline afterwards, with the pictures and the voice they heard then.

As little as you want. There are no streaks, points or clocks to keep your child going, and a round of maths or a short story is soon done. There is no time limit in the app: you decide how long your child practises.

There are no adverts, no chat and no in-app purchases. Your child only sees happy topics.

Without an account, progress stays on the device; with an account it is stored on servers in the EU. We only count anonymously which stories and sums are used, without names, device IDs or cookies; you can switch that off in the parents' area.

Yes, in the parents' area, per child: the stories read, the words they often tap, the words in review, the reading comprehension questions, the results of the practice tests and how far they are on each maths card. You also see the last four weeks, and what Smartinga suggests as the next step, and why.

No. Smartinga reads aloud in a computer voice that speaks clear Dutch, not a recording of a real person. If a word does not sound right, your child can report it with one tap on ‘Klinkt niet goed’ (sounds wrong), without a name or any other details, as long as anonymous counting is switched on.