A parent’s experience with Prodigy: making maths, science and English fun while supporting bilingual learning

She’s always loved maths. By the time she was six, she had confidently learned all her times tables and was always asking for “harder sums” than the ones she brought home from school. I wanted to find something that would challenge her but still feel fun — not like extra homework.

I’m not one of those parents who is totally against screens. I actually think they can be really helpful when they’re used with purpose, in balance, and with clear limits. A bit of learning mixed with a bit of fun is absolutely fine in our house — and I’ve seen first-hand how good screen time, whether educational content or language learning, really supports her at school. She thrives, and screen time for her is not a drag but a bonus.

So I started looking for maths apps that might suit her level. One name kept popping up: Prodigy.

When I mentioned it, she wasn’t very interested. As usual, anything “mum recommended” was immediately suspicious. So instead of pushing it, I signed her up to the free version and left her to discover it in her own time.

To my surprise, she loved it. Soon I started hearing about a mysterious character called the Puppet Master that she was desperate to defeat. 

I could even hear her talking to the computer while in battle mode. But in order to beat this guy, she had to answer maths questions — and get them right. Not only was she reading the questions carefully, but she would grab pen and paper to work out the answers so she could progress in the game.

Yes, there’s a big gaming element, but what really stood out to me was what was happening around the game.

She started talking about maths differently. Every day she mentioned a new concept she had learned. For example, she told me about prime and composite numbers and took pride in explaining them to me. She talked about needing to get answers right so she could earn Magicoin.

“If you don’t get the questions right, you don’t get the magic coins, and then you can’t beat the pets and save them,” she said.

That’s when I realised she wasn’t just playing a game. She was thinking about what she was doing.

After about eight months, she started to notice the limits of the free version. She began asking if she could try the Ultra Membership she had seen in the game.

In her words:

“With the free one, it takes forever to get the legendary pets. The members get them much faster.”

When the Easter break came around, I finally agreed.

I was a bit unsure at first. She already has homework, and she attends music school where she spends four hours a week learning notation and practising piano. She’s a busy child, and I didn’t want more screen time for no reason.

But this turned out to be different.

The free version already gives children plenty to do with maths. As a parent, you can also see what they’re working on, which I found really helpful.

With the Ultra Membership, she unlocked science questions inside the maths game as well as more areas to explore. Prodigy also has a separate English game that she can choose to play, where reading and language skills are practised in a different adventure.

As a Spanish-speaking family, we use the English version, which has actually been great for supporting her English without it feeling like a lesson. For families who don’t speak English, or who want their children to learn Spanish, there’s also a Spanish version of the game.

She also loves when new parts of the game open up. Recently she was very excited about unlocking a space-themed area with different pets and challenges.

“Sometimes new worlds open up, like the moon one. In the Moonlight Festival you go through the moon gate and there are different pets and battles there. You still have to get the questions right to win.”

What I love most is that she never feels like she’s “doing work” when she’s on it. To her, it’s a game. To me, it’s maths practice, reading practice, and now even bits of science — all happening without any arguments or reminders from me.

For us, this has been a really lovely way to support her love of maths, quietly build her English skills, and give her something educational that she genuinely enjoys.

And honestly, anything that makes a child excited about learning is worth sharing. I’m not concerned about school at all — she’s still focused on her homework, her exams, and like any child, having fun.

I was gifted the Ultra Membership for review purposes. This is my honest experience and review — all opinions are my own.