The rehearsal
My first day
Their school, how they will get there, what is for lunch, and who will be there at home time. The whole day, in order, before it happens.
Read it the week beforeStarting school · reception · £3.99 for the year
Starting school is a big day for a small person. Your child can know exactly how it goes, beforehand.
Type their name. Together you make them a real book that walks through their first day, before the day happens.
22
sleeps until most schools go back
Exciting. And a bit big. Both are allowed.
★★★★★ More than 50,000 downloads. 5★ App Store rating Built by parents who are doctors and child psychologists
Four kinds of book for one big term
Every one is made new with your child, about their school and their day. Not just a template with a name dropped in.
The worry
What if...?
A book about the four things children most worry about: I need the loo, nobody to play with, I am late, I miss Mummy or Daddy. Each becomes a story where they find the answer.
Read it when they askThe practice
Getting set for school
Pick the thing to get brilliant at: zips, buttons and tricky shoes, the loo on their own, lunchbox skills, asking for help.
Read it all termThe keeper
Today at school
How was lunch, what happened, how it felt. The book that answers “How was your day?” with more than a “Fine”. Make one whenever you like.
Read it all yearThe same book, two different children
Both are “My first day”. Every word and every picture changed, because the answers did.
Get their school books · £3.99
Love it or your money back. No deadline.
The first-day book walks the whole day, in order
This is the bit that does the work. Children settle when they know what is coming next.
Getting thereThe walk, the bus, the car, the scooter. However you actually go.
The doorTheir school. Big or small, old or new, with a playground or a field.
Their pegWhere the coat goes, and how to find it again.
The looWhere it is, and that you are allowed to just go.
LunchHot dinners or a lunchbox?
Home timeWho is coming, and where to find them.
Or pick one thing to get brilliant at
Story or mission, with a training buddy of their choosing.
Zips, buttons and tricky shoes
Going to the loo on my own
Lunchbox skills
Asking for help and saying how I feel
Sitting and listening at story time
Why a book, and why now
Little brains do better when they know what is coming
A four-year-old walking into reception needs to get their head around the room, the rules, the noise, the loo, the lunch and where you went… all in one morning. That is a lot to ask.
Knowing the order of the day takes the guessing away, so they have more left over for being curious and brave. It is why schools and therapists already use simple ‘social stories’ that walk through the day, in order, with the child in it.
Tandem helps you make that story with your child, about their school, in about four minutes.
“Introducing predictability helps the developing brain to learn to anticipate and to prepare for change before it occurs, which promotes attention and learning, reduces stress…”Professor Sam Wass, developmental cognitive neuroscientist, University of East London. In the same piece he calls stories “intrinsically predictable”, because a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. isey.org
A 2024 systematic review of 170 studies links everyday routines to better thinking skills, self-regulation and learning. Selman & Dilworth-Bart, Journal of Family Theory & Review. doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12549
A year of their books
£3.99
- Create unlimited books for a year, for every child in your family
- First-day books, worry books, practice books, and a today-book after every school day
- One-off payment. It never auto-renews.
- Every book you make is yours to keep and read forever
Love it or your money back. No deadline, no forms, no fuss.
Three quick answers
No. £3.99 unlocks a whole year of unlimited books, for every child in your family. It is a one-off payment and never auto-renews. Every book you make is yours to keep and read forever, long after the year ends.
Tandem is built by parents who are doctors and child psychologists, in collaboration with Nesta, Alder Hey and Moorfields. The AI works inside careful guardrails and there are no ads. You always create together, never the child alone.
Then use it for September. But the “Today at school” book is the one that really keeps giving all year: a couple of minutes after school to learn about more than just what they had for lunch.
A year of school books · £3.99Get yours