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Build a reading-lessons app that keeps a young child engaged, over a weekend with Claude

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by Shane Warren (@shanewwarren)
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Evidence: Described by posterThe person describes what happened in words, without screenshots or video.

Outcome

Shane Warren was teaching reading lessons from a book and could barely keep their son's attention. Over a weekend Warren built a reading app with Claude, and says their son has just kept going and going with it.

AI tool

Claude

Prompt Recreated prompt

The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.

What the prompt labels mean

Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about anything important that's missing below. Keep them quick. Then do the task, checking in with me at the key points.

Goal: Turn the reading lessons I already do with my child into a simple, engaging app.

What I can give you (ask for whatever's missing):
- My child's age and reading level: [AGE AND LEVEL]
- The book or method we're following: [METHOD]
- Device we'll use: [DEVICE]

Rules:
- Follow the order of my lessons; don't skip ahead or add new methods.
- Keep each activity short, with immediate encouraging feedback.
- No ads, accounts, chat or links out of the app.
- Explain how to run it on our device in plain terms.
- Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify.

Output: A working app covering the first few lessons, and how to add more.

You'll know it worked when: my child chooses to keep going after a lesson ends.

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Optional stronger version

Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.

Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about anything important that's missing below. Keep them quick. Then do the task, checking in with me at the key points.

Goal: Turn the reading lessons I already do with my child into a simple, engaging app.

What I can give you (ask for whatever's missing):
- My child's age and reading level: [AGE AND LEVEL]
- The book or method we're following: [METHOD]
- Device we'll use: [DEVICE]

Rules:
- Follow the order of my lessons; don't skip ahead or add new methods.
- Keep each activity short, with immediate encouraging feedback.
- No ads, accounts, chat or links out of the app.
- Explain how to run it on our device in plain terms.
- Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify.
- Add a simple progress screen I can check to see which sounds or words need more practice.

Output: A working app covering the first few lessons, and how to add more.

You'll know it worked when: my child chooses to keep going after a lesson ends.

Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.

Source

https://x.com/shanewwarren/status/2104750224866787454

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