Tähetark
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EST
Kids’ learning adventure in Estonian & English · out now
Otto, a friendly owl-astronomer, speaks every task out loud in a warm native voice — in whichever language you choose. So even a little one who can’t read yet can learn letters and numbers all by themselves. One tap switches the whole game to Estonian — perfect for Estonian families abroad. Tähetark is out now on the App Store and Google Play.
A bilingual learning app for ages 2–7. One-time purchase of €9.99 — no ads, no tracking, no subscriptions.
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How Tähetark works
Step by step, at your child’s own pace: from sounds and letters to first words, from counting to early maths — in Estonian, in English, or both.
Otto says each letter’s SOUND (not its name) in a clear native voice — Estonian or English, whichever you choose — and your child picks the matching letter. That’s phonics: exactly how the foundation for reading is built. No reading skills needed — everything is spoken aloud.
Single letters snap together into real words, each with its picture (D + OG = DOG). Your child connects the sound, the letter and the meaning — the first real step towards reading.
Your child counts real things, learns to recognise small quantities at a glance, and builds a confident feel for numbers — the foundation all of maths rests on.
Big, clear numbers: what comes next, which is bigger, first addition and subtraction. Numbers can be traced with a finger, too. All in small steps, with zero pressure.
Shadows, shapes, colours and simple logic: your child learns to notice, compare and solve patterns. Learning feels like a game — because it is one.
Every skill mastered earns stars. Your child spends them on bonus games: a colouring book, fishing, a rocket ride and more. The stars are earned through real learning.
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Real reviews from the App Store and Google Play · updates automatically
The science behind it
Tähetark tracks your child's progress and adapts to them. Every learning mechanic is built on published developmental and learning research and Estonia's national preschool curriculum.
Every letter, sound and number is tracked on its own. Difficulty rises as your child masters it, and a new group opens only once the last one is solid — keeping them just above what they already know, in the zone of proximal development (e.g. Wilson et al., 2019).
What's learned comes back at widening intervals — 10 minutes, a day, three days, a week — and the child recalls the answer themselves. Spaced practice is one of the strongest tools for lasting memory (Vlach & Sandhofer, 2008/2012).
Estonian letters are taught sound-first, the way teachers do — the child hears the sound before the name. English follows a synthetic-phonics order (s, a, t, p, i, n) so simple words can be blended early.
Numbers are built from blocks and grouped in fives and tens: the child sees that 7 is “5 and 2” and 14 is “a ten and 4”. The linear number line and grouping come from early-maths research (Siegler & Ramani; Starkey & McCandliss).
A session interleaves letters, numbers and shapes, helping the child tell concepts apart (Rohrer). Praise is about effort — “you practised and found it!”, not “you're so smart” (Gunderson & Dweck, 2013).
No loot boxes, no random rewards, no countdown timers, no pressure. Each bonus game costs a fixed, visible number of stars, and stars are earned only by learning — so effort is what unlocks the fun.
Research basis
Every pedagogical decision in Tähetark — spaced repetition, active retrieval, interleaved practice, phonics before letter names, spatial play and process praise — is grounded in peer-reviewed research. Each claim links to the original publication so you can verify it yourself.
Tähetark keeps task difficulty where the child answers correctly ~85% of the time — the scientifically optimal learning rate. Anchored in Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development and Bjork's "desirable difficulties".
Reviews are scheduled at expanding intervals: 10 min → 1 day → 3 days → 7 days → 21 days. Every review asks the child to recall — not watch a replay. The single most evidence-backed technique for durable memory.
Rather than grouping all letters, then all numbers, then all shapes, Tähetark mixes types within every session. This forces the child to decide each time what they are seeing — building discrimination and transfer far better than blocked practice.
Tähetark introduces each letter through its sound, not its name. The teaching order is deliberate — frequent sounds before rare ones — following synthetic-phonics principles. The evidence here is unambiguous.
Tähetark builds number sense at three levels: a linear number line (magnitude as position), grouping by fives and tens, and instant recognition of small quantities. Numbers are always introduced concretely before abstractly.
Tähetark praises effort, not intelligence. The bonus Tangram game trains spatial skills linked to mathematical growth. All activities are playfully framed — playful learning demonstrably outperforms rote instruction for young children.
Tähetark is aligned with Estonia's National Curriculum for Preschool Child Care Institutions (RT I 2008, 23, 152) across language and speech, mathematics, play and movement.
Trust
Built the way I’d want my own child to learn.
Spaced repetition, with progress at exactly the pace your child is ready for. Every session ends in success — there is no way to lose.
Tähetark never asks how old your child is. The difficulty adapts: when something is tricky, Otto stays with it; when it clicks, they move on.
Otto speaks clear, accent-free Estonian and friendly English — the whole app works fully in both, switchable anytime in the parents’ corner. Your child hears correct pronunciation and repeats it, just like learning at your side.
Tähetark shows no ads, tracks no one and collects no data about your child. COPPA- and GDPR-safe. Works completely offline, too.
Carries Apple’s “Made for Kids” badge (App Store kids’ category). A safe place where your child can puzzle things out alone — without you having to worry.
There is no big company or investor behind Tähetark. One dad is building it for his four-year-old son — and now for your child, too.
Real families
Not child actors — real children discovering letters, numbers and colours in Tähetark.
Why I’m doing this
My son is four. I went looking for an app that would teach him letters and numbers in our own language, without throwing ads at him or trying to keep him glued to the screen. I couldn’t find one. So I started building it myself — in the evenings, after he had fallen asleep.
Tähetark grew bigger than I ever planned. Otto learned to speak — first Estonian, then English too — letters became sounds, then came numbers, games, stars to earn. But I am one person. Every family that downloads Tähetark is living proof that I’m not building this only for my son — that real families truly need it. That is what keeps me going and keeps making Tähetark better.
I can promise you just one thing: I will do my very best to build an app you’re genuinely happy to sit down with your child and use.
Martti
Martti Randma, maker of Tähetark and dad of one little stargazer
Tähetark is available in both stores. One-time purchase of €9.99 — no ads, no subscriptions.
FAQ
Yes! Tähetark is available on both the App Store (iPhone, iPad) and Google Play (Android). Download it, make the one-time €9.99 purchase and your child can start right away.
Tähetark costs €9.99. It is a one-time purchase — no subscriptions and no in-app purchases.
You can download Tähetark from the App Store (iPhone, iPad) or Google Play (Android). Pick the store that matches your device and download it.
It’s best suited to children aged roughly 2–7, so a 4-year-old is right in the sweet spot. Tähetark goes by skill, not age: the difficulty adapts to your child and grows with them.
Estonian and English — the whole app works fully in both, and you can switch languages anytime in the parents’ corner. Otto teaches Estonian letters through their sounds and English letters through phonics.
Yes, completely. Once downloaded, Tähetark needs no internet connection — and no ads will ever interrupt your child.
Yes. No ads, no tracking, no data collected about your child. Tähetark is COPPA- and GDPR-safe and meets Apple’s “Made for Kids” requirements.
Yes. There is no company or investor behind Tähetark — it is built by Martti Randma, one dad, for his little son.