Part 8 of 25
Inside a lesson
Every lesson is built the same way, so once your child knows one they know all of them. A lesson takes five to ten minutes. Here is what is in one, from top to bottom.
The title, and what it is about
At the top is the lesson name and one line saying what your child will learn. Under it is the subject and grade, so you always know where you are.
The explanation
A few short paragraphs teaching the idea. These are written for the child, not for you. Sentences are short, and every new word is explained the first time it appears.
The part you can touch
This is the heart of a Cogito lesson. There is a picture your child can change — a slider to drag, shapes to tap, numbers to type — and everything else on the screen updates to match.
- Drag the slider, or use the − and + buttons, to change a number.
- Type into the box if your child prefers. The picture follows either way.
- Tap the picture itself where a lesson invites it — shading parts of a shape, for instance.
Questions
After the explanation come questions. Your child types or taps an answer and finds out straight away whether it is right.
- A correct answer says so, and moves on.
- A wrong answer does not scold. It explains what went wrong and lets your child try again, as many times as they like.
Ask about this lesson
Near the bottom, once you are signed in, is a box headed Stuck? Ask about this lesson. It is for you, not for your child — there is a whole chapter on it later.
The rest of the chapter
On a computer, the other lessons in the chapter are listed down the left-hand side of the lesson. The one being read is marked. You can see what comes next, and what came before, without leaving the page.
On a phone there is no room for it beside the lesson, so it is a button in the bottom right-hand corner instead. It says which chapter you are in. Tap it and the list of lessons slides in over the page.
Moving on
At the very bottom are links to the next lesson, back to the chapter, and to the worksheets for this lesson. Cogito remembers which lessons have been finished, so you can come back tomorrow and carry on where you left off.
When a lesson is locked
If a lesson needs a membership, you get this screen instead. Nothing is broken — chapter 1 of that course is still free, and signing in opens everything for a week.
The membership chapter explains what is free and what is not.