Lock & Learn: Chinese Writing

Screen time that teaches Chinese. Your child wants a game. Lock & Learn asks for Chinese first: write a character from memory, stroke by stroke, and the game opens. Every correct stroke earns play time. Two courses: Traditional Chinese with 注音, and Japanese (hiragana, katakana and the kanji taught in Japanese elementary schools). Choose the course at setup or in parent settings. WHY I MADE IT I'm a teacher and a parent. My daughter was struggling with Chinese, and she wanted more screen time than I wanted to give. So I built an app where her games wait until she writes. Practice happens every day, and play time is earned. HOW IT WORKS 1. Choose the apps that stay locked, such as games or video. 2. When your child opens one, they write a few characters or words from memory. 3. Each correct stroke adds seconds, each word adds minutes, and stars add more. 4. A clock winds up to the time earned. Tap Exit and that app opens for that long. The others stay locked. THIS WEEK'S SCHOOL WORDS, FIRST • Paste the word list from school, any way it comes: one word per line, numbered, or run together. • Practice uses only those words until each one is done. Clear the list and it goes back to the normal course. • Every word is taught with its 注音 and meaning, then written from memory. TAUGHT THE WAY TAIWAN SCHOOLS TEACH • Traditional characters with 注音, in the stroke order taught in Taiwan schools. • Watch the strokes, trace, then write from memory. • Simple building blocks first (木, 人, 口), then harder characters explained by their parts. In 灣, 氵 gives the meaning (water) and 彎 gives the sound. • Real words from the first levels, not just single characters. • Meanings in English or in Chinese, so it works for bilingual families. In Chinese, the character being written is hidden as ○, so the meaning is a clue, not the answer. FROM THE FIRST STROKE TO UNIVERSITY WORDS • 4,900+ characters and more than 25,000 words, each with 注音 and a meaning. • Start at your child's grade level, and move it up or back any time. • Short levels, so there is a level-up often. • Characters that were missed come back for review. EARN MORE WITH BONUS WORDS • On the clock, Bonus asks for a word of two or more characters they already know, worth more per stroke. • You set a daily limit for bonus time, or turn the limit off. JAPANESE, TOO • Hiragana written from their sound, katakana from the hiragana, and about 1,000 elementary-school kanji. • Kanji are asked the way Japanese kanji tests ask: a box inside a word, with the reading above. • Strokes in the order commonly taught in Japanese schools. • Hiragana and katakana ア–ノ (100 characters) are free. FOR PARENTS • A parent PIN protects every setting. • You choose how many words to write, how much time each stroke, word and star is worth, the shortest and longest unlock, and whether too little time keeps the app locked. • Off-limits apps: some apps stay closed, and writing won't open them, until you turn this off. • Built on Apple's Screen Time. FREE AND SUBSCRIPTION • Levels 1–69 (about 300 characters, grade 1) are free, with no time limit. • Homework without a subscription: every word inside levels 1–69, plus up to 5 harder words per list. • A subscription unlocks all 4,900+ characters, unlimited homework words, and the full word list. Privacy: https://smaggmeron-code.github.io/Lock-n-Learn/privacy.html