Squibner Software

theiphonemom.com on MathTime and MathTimeEX:

These are two simple and effective apps that will help your child practice their math facts. I love having “flashcards” that don’t have to be flipped through and cannot be lost.  Now here’s the cool thing about these apps. They were designed by an eleven year old boy named Owen. (One of my favorite boy names by the way.) Owen and his brother Finn have been featured in many news stories and even on the Rush Limbaugh show. You can read all about their press here. As the mom of a ten year old I’m thoroughly impressed with what these kids have accomplished. Owen has mastered a new programming language and  built a useful app that he should be very proud of. Math Time and Math Time EX are well done, effective and helpful to all the other kids who need that extra bit of practice with math.

Preteens Build Top Selling iPhone App

By: Nathaniel Whittemore

A great little article published by Inc. Magazine [on July 1, 2009] tells the story of Finn and Owen Voorhees, 9 and 11 year old brothers who recently designed an iPhone application that became one of the top selling apps. . . .

First of all, it's such an affirmation of the creativity and capacity of young people. If you encourage them to explore instead of boxing them into stereotypes of what they can achieve, amazing things can happen. The other piece of this though is how different it is for these young creatives to have a platform for their work. Photoshop and the Apple App store coding platform gave them the tools they need to build something; the App Store gave them a place where they can be affirmed for their good work and where they value they created could be accessed by others. This is one of the powers of technology that I've been most excited about. I've had the lens of an extremely precocious younger brother to see just how both hardware and software can unleash creativity.

From Gordon Simmons' Blog:

Some things never change. Kids need to learn math, and one tool to help them has always been repetitive flash cards.

Well, inspiring kids Owen and Finn Voorhees have taken flash cards to a new level—to the iPhone, in fact.

The brothers had the idea that the iPhone would be a great delivery system for a flash card program, or app, that would help students memorize math facts. There are over 35,000 apps for the phone, and there is a large community of programmers writing programs for iPhone users to add to their devices. However, up to 9 months ago, Owen and Finn were not part of that community. Together, they learned the programming language, and came up with graphical icons and for the app. The Chicago tribune article ishere.

Like so many inspirational children, Owen and Finn saw a need and filled it. Sure there are flash cards out there already, but what kid wouldn’t rather pick up an iPhone instead of a pile of cards? Kids helping kids, once again!

Congratulations, Owen and Finn.

Chicago Tribune, May 25, 2009  

You might think of flash cards and work sheets when you think of grade-school math. But now, thanks to two young brothers from Hinsdale, there’s an app for that.

Link.