Skip to lesson
Cogito
GuideContactMembership

How to use Cogito

Every part of the app, explained in plain words, with pictures of what you will actually see on your screen. You do not need to know anything about computers.

Start at the top and work down, or jump straight to the part you need. Each one takes two or three minutes.

New here? Watch how Cogito works.

Two parents get shown the whole app — the courses, a real lesson, the printable worksheets, search, the hint helper, the family page and the play corners. Watch it through, or jump straight to the part you need.

  1. 1Getting startedWhat Cogito is, and the first five minutes.
  2. 2The menu on the leftThe strip of icons that reaches everything else.
  3. 3The home pageEvery part of the first screen, explained.
  4. 4Finding a lessonSearching, and narrowing by subject and grade.
  5. 5Finding a starting chapterTen minutes of questions that point at the right place to begin.
  6. 6Grades and levelsWhat the course names mean, showing levels instead of grades, and how grades line up outside the US.
  7. 7Chapter toursThe one-minute video at the top of every chapter.
  8. 8Inside a lessonWhat each part of a lesson does.
  9. 9Reading lessonsWhy a reading lesson looks different, and what the tutor beside the story is doing.
  10. 10Worksheets and printingPaper practice, and the answer keys.
  11. 11Word problemsFour hundred and twenty problems that do not say which method to use.
  12. 12Scratch paperSomewhere to work out a math problem, inside the lesson.
  13. 13Chapter checksThe short test at the end of a chapter.
  14. 14Today's fiveA two-minute daily warm-up of chapters already passed.
  15. 15This weekOne lesson, five short sprints on five different days.
  16. 16Build a problemYour child sets the question instead of answering one.
  17. 17Fun & ThinkTwenty-four short things to play, almost none needing reading.
  18. 18Signing inMaking an account, step by step.
  19. 19Free week and membershipWhat costs nothing, and what a membership opens.
  20. 20Asking about a lessonThe helper for grown-ups, at the foot of every lesson.
  21. 21More than one childAdding learners and keeping progress apart.
  22. 22Your family pageEach child's progress, and this week's letter.
  23. 23Helping your childWhere to start, how long, what to do when they are stuck.
  24. 24On a phone or tabletAdding it to the home screen, and using it without internet.
  25. 25When something goes wrongThe handful of things that go wrong, and the fix.

If something here does not match what you see on your screen, or you cannot find the answer, tell us and we will fix it. There is no wrong question.