Real families. Real progress.

Hi Toronto parents! Since Alpha isn't in Toronto yet, I wanted to share our experience after taking my two boys to the Alpha summer camp in Orange County.

Overall, they absolutely loved it. They worked on math and reading through TimeBack, and as a parent, I was able to see their progress live throughout the week. The software picked up on where they had gaps, where they were ahead, and then customized the lessons to each child's pace.

The biggest surprise for me was that my boys actually wanted to do extra work. They brought their laptops home and stayed up late doing more lessons — definitely a first for us!

Outside of academics, my 7-year-old did the medic track, where he learned about bandaging, casting, and slings for broken arms. My 9-year-old did the snack challenge, where he worked on baking and improving his recipe each day. By the end of the week, he had branded his cookie as “The Crumble Club” and marketed it to parents.

They also had the chance to fly and program drones, which was really impressive to see during the end-of-week showcase.

At the end of the week, the guides shared a helpful summary with us that described where each of my boys was most engaged, along with areas where they could continue improving. I really appreciated getting that kind of thoughtful feedback beyond just “they had a good week.”

We'll be using TimeBack for the rest of the summer, and the kids are genuinely excited to continue. As a parent, the experience definitely gave me more confidence and excitement about Alpha coming to Toronto.

We did Alpha Summer in Miami last week, and instead of repeating much of what Ian said, I can confirm we had a similar experience with our 7-year-old twin boys.

We did find that earning XPs for an end reward was very motivating. We're unsure if that would persist over the long term, but were assured that as kids get older, the focus shifts to more sustainable intrinsic motivators (while maintaining the XPs).

We weren't given laptops to take home, but we look forward to setting up and testing TimeBack for the rest of the summer.

An update on my 3 kids — one who has been using TimeBack for about 5 weeks, and two others who have dabbled.

In a little over 5 weeks, my middle child Cedric, who just finished Grade 4 and attends a French public school, went from:

• →Grade 3 to Grade 5 in Math
• →Grade 1 to Grade 5 in Fast Math — a big jump, as he was scared to answer any math questions fast
• →Grade 4 to Middle School in Science
• →Grade 2 to Grade 4 in English Language (Grammar)
• →Grade 3 to Grade 8 in Vocabulary
• →Grade 4 to Grade 5 in Reading
• →Steady progress, for the first time in his life, in Cursive Writing

A bunch of this is catching up and getting used to the learning system, but the academic progression is fast. He can feel it. I can feel it. The progress is palpable.

It was really interesting to see those Grade 1, 2 and 3 placements for my “end of Grade 4” child — and by interesting I mean it made me feel a bunch of strong emotions. But I see that the gaps are being filled, and the academic progression feels quick.

My eldest, Caradoc — the bright, precocious one who just finished Grade 7 at an academically demanding middle school and learned nothing in math for a whole year — used TimeBack to place into:

• →Grade 10 Math
• →Finished Fast Math (it only goes to Grade 5)
• →Middle School Science
• →Grade 10 Language · Grade 12 Vocabulary — one question away from finishing all of K–12 vocabulary
• →Grade 4 Writing · Grade 5 Reading

He had to take every placement test from Grade 3 in every subject, so it took a while to get these placements. He asked for a full summer break before starting any actual learning, but is coming back with a clear goal: complete 36 courses in a year — a course being one subject at one grade level — including AP Calc BC and maybe AP Physics before he turns 13. He wants to blank out TimeBack in 12 months or less: to log in and see zero courses available.

And Cormac, my 5-year-old: he started working 20 minutes a day, made some progress, got distracted, started reading Julia Donaldson books from the “Read With Oxford” series to upgrade his reading skills, and is going to enjoy his summer. He finished Grade 1 math.