Square Panda is trying to walk the lines between fun and learning — and between the digital and the physical. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company has launched a $119 product that combines proprietary learning hardware with games that run on an iPad.
The company has received funding from tennis legend Andre Agassi, who attended CES 2017, the big tech trade show in Las Vegas earlier this month, with company CEO Andy Butler. I interviewed Butler at CES, and he has some big ambitions for Square Panda. He wants to help reform early education itself.
Asked what is missing from schools, Butler said, “Education over the next five to 10 years is going to be revolutionized. This chronological conveyor belt, factory model of education we have, where everyone gets on at the same point in time and advances through every subject at the same rate, regardless of whether they are left brain or right brain, that’s going to be eliminated.”
The Square Panda iPad accessory product is shipping, and you can order now on the company’s website. Targeted at kids ages two and up, it teaches children phonics and basic learning skills with a multi-sensory system that features sounds, visual aids, and physical toy-like letters. Kids can explore the alphabet, learn letter sounds, discover rhymes, and build vocabulary — using tactile letter blocks.
Image Credit: Dean Takahashi
Unlike other companies that simply want to entertain kids, Square Panda takes the education very seriously.
“I see other companies focus on toys or play and not being curriculum centric,” said Butler. “My daughter is dyslexic. This…