Essential maths concepts, adapted to a child’s abilities, showing how maths is actually used.
Town Squared encourages children to actively participate in maths, through gameplay and social connection.
Town Squared helps children to understand how to apply maths usefully, and develop the problem-solving skills that will accompany them through life.
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All maths education relies on a deep grounding in foundational concepts and skills. Every maths syllabus is built on the same learning content: the logic of quantity, shapes and arrangement of things that we call mathematics. Often called ‘The Big Ideas in Maths’, these universal maths concepts are the basis of all maths curricula.
With the help of our maths advisors, we have developed these key concepts into replayable activities that gradually scale in complexity as the child understands the concept, and gains confidence in their skills.
Town Squared covers all areas of maths, and each activity adapts to match a child’s ability as they play. The platform combines essential maths knowledge, games for motivation, and the advice of educational specialists.
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Our maths and game specialists work together to come up with activities that address key maths concepts. Each one starts with basic principles, and we make sure to model out the task and provide the right explanations as the activity unfolds.
Any mistake triggers immediate and supportive feedback, so children quickly understand how to ‘win’. This is the point where the game gets harder or more complex.
To a child, the increasing difficulty seems like a normal game challenge – but we have carefully mapped out this complexity with our maths specialists, so your child is actually exploring a maths concept step-by-step.
By pairing this approach with real-world use of maths, Town Squared helps children understand maths at their own level, and see what their maths schoolwork is used for.
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Research shows that children with maths anxiety can learn to understand, identify and deal with it if they have the right guidance. Educators and families are a big part of this process, if they can access the right information.
Guided by our maths anxiety experts, we have applied this research and expert advice throughout Town Squared. The game uses supportive feedback and guidance to help children tackle maths concepts. The feedback and related activities also encourage children to recognise that fear is something they can manage and face.
Our online portal and resource libraries also helps educators, parents and other family members understand what contributes to maths anxiety in children.
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Rather than just repeating schoolbook maths problems, Town Squared shows how maths is a useful skill that can help children solve problems and function in the world.
We apply mathematical concepts in useful and usable ways throughout the town, and the town grows and improves over time. In each location a child uses maths to build, measure, calculate, plan and more.
Our academic advisory group.
We are proud to be working with some of the most prominent voices for improving mathematics education, and with leading psychological researchers in the fields of maths anxiety, family maths engagement, growth mindset and financial literacy.
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The Mathematical Association of Victoria (MAV)
MAV promotes the importance of mathematics to society and has been an active not-for-profit professional Association for more than 100 years. MAV has over 1400 members from all sectors of education, providing benefits to a growing network of over 15,000 mathematics educators.
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Dr. Sarah Buckley
Dr Sarah Buckley is a Senior Research Fellow in the Educational Monitoring and Research Division at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) with a particular research interest in motivation and emotion in learning.
Dr Buckley’s research expertise in this area includes her PhD, which investigated mathematics anxiety and motivation, and peer relationships using social network modelling.
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Andrew Lorimer-Derham
Andrew is an educator and founder of Think Square. His passion is helping teachers bring more ‘intentional fun’ into the maths classroom.
Andrew’s expertise is creating engaging mathematical experiences to build skills, confidence and a love of maths in any learner.
He often plays mathematical games against himself for fun.
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Dr. Sarah Eason
Dr. Sarah Eason is an Assistant Professor in Human Development and Family Studies at Purdue University.
Dr. Eason’s program of research focuses on how social interactions in informal learning settings such as the home environment can equip children with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes they need to do well in school.
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John Rives
John Rives is a co-founder of the Growth Mindset Institute and collaborates with Prof Carol Dweck on the design and delivery of growth mindset programs. He has developed the Mindset Profiler into the most advanced online mindset assessment tool globally.
He has deep knowledge and experience in the design and delivery of growth mindset programs in education, business and government.
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Dr Carly Sawatzki
Carly is a teacher educator and educational researcher at Deakin University. She is interested in how young people become numerate and financially capable within families, schools and communities.
Carly’s research focuses on the teaching of humanities, mathematics and numeracy in consumer, economic, and financial contexts.