Available
Child Mode
Simple enough for little hands.
How do you teach?
Young children get lost in toolbars full of icons, and a cluttered screen pulls their attention away from the lesson. Child Mode gives them a clean board, a few big tools and their teacher’s face right there. It suits learners of any age, and especially learners with special needs.
Your six-year-old student keeps clicking the wrong tool and getting stuck. Child Mode leaves only select, move, undo, pen and eraser, with your face always in view.
A class of seven-year-olds plus a full toolbar is a recipe for chaos. Child Mode keeps the board clean and the tools few, so young students take part on their own.
Despite the name, Child Mode works at any age. For an adult with a learning disability, or someone new to computers, it leaves five big tools and your face in view.
Young students on Chromebooks wander into tools they don’t need. Child Mode gives K–3 students a clean board and five big tools, so they work independently.
Despite the name, Child Mode works at any age. In a workshop for older adults new to tablets, everyone gets the same five big tools and nothing else to find.
Your young child shouldn’t need you to click for them. Child Mode shows a clean board, a few big tools and their teacher’s face, so they can take part on their own.
Free for 2 weeks on any paid plan. No credit card required.
What it solves
- Each new site, language or age is a project
- Attention drifts, young kids most of all
- Too many controls for young or new users
Helps you
Teach better
Part of
Young learners
The problem
Young children get lost in the controls
Busy interfaces overwhelm five- to eight-year-olds, and many learners with special needs at any age. They click the wrong things, lose their work and need someone beside them to stay in the lesson.
The usual way
Parents sit beside young children to click for them, or teachers spend the first minutes of every lesson fixing what got clicked.
How Pencil Spaces solves it
Child Mode is a simpler screen for young children, and for learners of any age who do better with fewer tools. The board stays clean, the toolbar keeps only select, move, undo, pen and eraser, and the teacher’s video stays in view.
What changes
Young children take part on their own, without an adult clicking for them. Many learners with special needs, at any age, get less to take in and bigger targets to reach.
Learn more
What it looks like
In practice
A first grader opens his lesson in Child Mode. He sees a clean board, five big tools and his teacher’s face, and starts drawing on his own.
In a 1:1 lesson
Your kindergarten reader sees only the pen, eraser and undo. She traces letters on her own while you watch her face.
In a group class
Twelve second graders join in Child Mode. Nobody gets lost in menus, and they all write their answers themselves.
In a virtual training
A job-skills trainer runs a weekly online workshop for adults with learning disabilities. In Child Mode, each participant sees five big tools and the trainer’s face, and marks their answers on the board themselves.
In your classroom
Your first-grade class opens the Space on Chromebooks in Child Mode. Every student has the same five big tools and gets straight to work.
In the training room
A library runs a digital skills workshop for older adults, each at a tablet. In Child Mode they see five big tools, so everyone draws and writes on the board without help.
At home
Your five-year-old does her online reading lesson in Child Mode while you make dinner. She doesn’t need you to click anything.
