The six learning apps

§ 01Opening the apps

Students open the apps from the Your apps grid in the Student Portal — one tap, no second sign-in. Each app also has its own address (e.g. jhs.simusim.com) which leads through the same student code + PIN sign-in. Family-account children get whichever apps were purchased or subscribed for them.

Across all six apps the tone is the same on purpose: warm Ghanaian greetings (“Akwaaba” in Stories and Arena, “Maakye” in Simu JHS), Ghanaian examples (cedis, markets, gari, Lake Volta), calm factual feedback — and no leaderboard shaming, ever.

§ 02Simu Primary — maths & science, B1–B6

The foundation app for primary learners (roughly ages 6–12), covering the full NaCCA maths and science curriculum for Basic 1–6.

• Home greets the child by name with a daily goal — maths one day, science the next — and a subject & grade picker (B1–B6).
• Lessons follow the curriculum's strands — Number, Algebra, Geometry & Measurement, Data for maths; Diversity of Matter, Cycles, Systems, Forces & Energy, Humans & Environment for science. Each lesson explains the idea, lets the child play with it in an interactive widget, then practises it with instant feedback and hints.
• Explore is the toy box: a Geoboard, Pattern Blocks, a Fraction Wall, a Circuit Builder, a Food Web Builder, and a Life Cycle Explorer — free play that secretly teaches.
• Progress flows to the Student Portal's Simu progress page and the Parent Portal.

Deep dive: Simu Primary, lesson by lesson →

§ 03Simu JHS — BECE preparation, B7–B9

Core Mathematics and Integrated Science for JHS, organised exactly like the syllabus — every one of the official curriculum indicators, each tagged with its NaCCA code (e.g. B7.1.1.1.1) and a BECE priority badge showing how often it appears in past papers.

The daily loop

1. Today shows the streak, the daily goal, and one suggested lesson — plus Review due (mastered topics resurfacing for spaced review) and a Weakness clinic.
2. A lesson walks concept → interactive simulation → worked examples → practice, ending with a quiet “Lesson done”.
3. Practice runs sessions of 5/10/15 questions — multiple choice or keypad entry (with fraction and √ keys), an optional timer, and a working box for BECE-style workings. Missed questions requeue at the end of the session.
4. Mastery is earned, not given: a topic moves from learning to mastered after consecutive correct answers, then returns for review at growing intervals (a day, then days, then weeks). Get one wrong and it gently comes back sooner.
5. BECE hosts mock exams with a timer and question-by-question review; Flash drills are two-minute speed rounds for Paper 1.

For parents: the app's weekly summary shows per-strand mastery and recent activity — “a quiet record of everything learned. No leaderboards.” For teachers: a class view highlights weak indicators across the roster.

Deep dive: Simu JHS — Today screen, mastery & BECE →

§ 04Simu Science Lab — experiments on a phone

A virtual laboratory for B7–B9 Integrated Science: 133 ready experiments across the five strands — light a circuit, classify states of matter, separate mixtures, zoom into plant and animal cells on a virtual microscope, explore the periodic table, build compounds, run a crop field lab.

Every experiment follows the same scientific arc:

1. Predict — before touching anything, the student commits to a prediction (“when the temperature passes 100 °C, the particles will…”).
2. Investigate — the simulation itself: sliders, drag-and-drop, live visual feedback.
3. Ask Professor Ama — the built-in AI science tutor answers questions in plain language, grounded in the syllabus, with Ghanaian examples. (Professor Ama needs an internet connection; everything else works offline.)
4. Record — a printable lab record with the aim and observation prompts, like a real practical book.
5. Check — a recap question plus BECE-style exam practice with model answers to self-mark against.

Deep dive: Simu Science Lab + the full 133-experiment catalogue →

§ 05vMaths — visual maths, B1–B6

“B1 to B6 maths with visual stories.” Every one of its 174 lessons starts in a familiar Ghanaian scene — a market stall, a classroom, a kitchen — and moves story → visual → practice:

1. Story: the problem appears in context (“Ama needs 7 oranges. The seller has piles of 3, 5 and 10…”), with a worked example.
2. Visual: the same idea as a hands-on model — counting trays, ten-frames, fraction walls, bar models — that the child manipulates.
3. Practice: short questions with instant feedback. Two misses open the Rescue lab: the idea rebuilt step by step from concrete objects → pictures → symbols, then back to the question.
4. Summary: the score and a mastery check; passing marks the lesson mastered and points to the next one.

Beyond lessons: Practice packs (36 of them, by grade and strand), a Review mix, and a Progress page with completion and mastery counts. Each lesson card carries its NaCCA code (e.g. B4.1.1.1).

Deep dive: vMaths — stages, Rescue Lab & packs →

§ 06Stories — reading that grows character

A levelled library of values-driven African stories. The library greets the reader (“Akwaaba, Kofi”) with shelves: Continue reading, Just right for you (matched to reading level), Browse by Virtue (each named in English and Twi — “Honesty · Nokwaredi”), Browse by Collection, and Newly added.

• Reading is page-by-page with full illustrations; type size adapts to the reader's level, and tapping a tricky word explains it.
• Finishing a story plants a virtue in the child's Character Garden — a garden of plants, one per virtue, that blossoms as more stories are read. The end of each story also invites an optional written reflection (“What would you have done?”).
• Parents see stories finished and the garden summary in the Parent Portal.

Deep dive: Stories — the reader & Character Garden →

§ 07Arena — challenge yourself

Timed quiz challenges for Basic 4 and up — built self-first: the home screen is Your Growth (your streak, your personal bests per category), not a leaderboard.

1. Play — pick an arena (e.g. Critical Thinking, STEM Math), then a challenge.
2. Answer one question at a time against the countdown. Submit before the timer runs out — it auto-submits your answers if time expires.
3. The result frames growth, not failure: “New personal best!”, “First try logged — nice start”, or “Every try teaches your brain something” — with a question recap to revisit.
4. Board — the within-school leaderboard, one tap away for those who want it, with names shortened for privacy.

Arena needs a connection to start a new challenge and to score it (live timers and server-side grading) — a challenge you've already opened keeps working offline. Younger students see a friendly “Challenges are coming to your level soon!” rather than a wall.

Deep dive: Arena — challenges & the leaderboard →

§ 08Using the apps offline

Data is expensive and connections drop — the apps are built for that:

1. Install the app when the browser offers (“Add to Home Screen”), or any time from the browser menu. It then opens full-screen like a native app.
2. Look for the “Save for offline” / download card on the app's home page and tap it while you have a connection — lessons, practice and simulations are stored on the device.
3. Learn offline freely. Progress is saved on the device and syncs automatically the next time the app sees the internet — nothing is lost.

§ 09Who gets which app

If a student sees “This app is not enabled for your school” or “Your teacher has not assigned this app yet”, the fix is in School Admin → App access. For family accounts, access follows your purchases and subscriptions.

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