Happy Brain Day Pilot
Founding pilot · 2026–27
For clinicians, coaches, tutors and educators

Less Nagging.More Kid.

Daily executive function support for growing brains, one good day at a time.

I'm looking for 5 to 10 families of middle and high school students with ADHD or executive function challenges to pilot a new app. If you work with families who might be a fit, I'd be grateful for an introduction.

Refer a family See pilot details
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Why this exists

Behind every ADHD kid, the parent is the planner.

Every assignment, every study session, every "did you pack your bag?" runs through a parent. It works until it doesn't. In middle school, the workload jumps and the rubber meets the road. No parent can be the motivator, the planner and the homework tracker all at once, and kids start falling behind. By high school, study habits are set, and the struggle shows up on the transcript.

Happy Brain Day moves that daily structure into an app built for one specific kid. It ties small daily actions, like a 20-minute study block or turning in homework, to goals the kid cares about, and rewards them often. The parent steps back from enforcer to supporter.

A good fit for the pilot

  • Middle or high school student, roughly ages 11 to 18
  • ADHD diagnosis or executive function struggles: starting tasks, planning, time, follow-through
  • A kid who wants to do better in school, not just a parent who wants it for them
  • A parent willing to set it up and stay involved for 8 weeks
  • The student has a smartphone
  • A kid you can trust to report honestly. Most tasks are self-reported, so a kid who wants to game it can.

Not the right fit right now

  • Families in acute crisis who need clinical support first
  • Kids who refuse to try it at all; buy-in matters
How it works

Custom built for your kid.

  1. They design it

    Your kid picks the name, the colors and the theme. From day one it feels like their app.

  2. Features fit the struggle

    A short setup survey inside the app finds the sticking points, like starting homework, tracking assignments or test prep, and switches on the tools that target them.

  3. Rewards they actually want

    Concert tickets. Cash for thrifting. A big graduation gift. Points come from real, specific actions, like a finished study block or a submitted assignment, and add up to whatever your kid cares about.

  4. From "Did you do your homework?" to "Friendly reminder to log it!"

    Parents see progress without the interrogation. The only reminder left is a friendly nudge to log the work. Kids know the rules up front and know their parents can see, so nobody has to play the bad guy.

Example student home screen. Maya picked purple. Names and tasks are illustrative.

Same app, different kids

Every kid's app looks like them.

The tools underneath are the same. The look, the language and the rewards change completely.

LVL 12WED
HAPPY BRAIN DAY, LEO
XP1,240
STREAK6
> TODAY'S QUESTS
Math homework+50 XP
Boss fight: bio test prep+100
20-min grind+40 XP
LOOT: NEW CONTROLLER
The gamerPoints become XP, tests become boss fights.
The Daily Priya
Vol. 6WednesdayHappy Brain Day
Bylines 240Streak 6 days
FILED English essay draft
BREAKING 20-min study block
DEVELOPING Read 20 minutes
Saving for: summer journalism program
The aspiring journalistHer day reads like a front page. Tasks are stories to file.
SOFIA'S LOOKBOOK
Happy Brain Day, Sofia
Style points240
Streak6 days
Fit check
Spanish vocab+20
20-min study block+25
Chem worksheet+20
Thrift fund $40 of $60
The fashionistaHer week is a lookbook. Points go to the thrift fund.
WEDHOME GAME
HAPPY BRAIN DAY, MARCUS
PTS240
STREAK6
RANK#1
TODAY'S PLAYS
Pack gym bag+10
20-min study block+25
History reading+15
NEXT UP: NEW CLEATS
The athleteA scoreboard, plays and a season streak.

Example screens. Names, tasks and rewards are illustrative.

The research behind the design

Why small, frequent rewards work for brains like these.

Now beats later

Kids with ADHD strongly prefer immediate rewards and find waiting harder than their peers do. So the app awards points the moment a task is done. Luman et al., 2005; Bitsakou et al., 2009

Rewards that matter

Reinforcement improves performance and motivation, and strong, meaningful rewards work especially well for kids with ADHD. So kids choose their own rewards. Luman et al., 2005

Behavioral support works

A review of 174 studies found that behavioral approaches built on clear goals and rewards are effective for ADHD. Fabiano et al., 2009

Daily feedback, home rewards

In a randomized trial, a daily report card tied to rewards at home raised academic productivity and cut classroom rule violations. Fabiano et al., 2010

These studies mostly involve children with ADHD and programs run by parents, teachers and clinicians. Happy Brain Day builds those principles into a daily app; the pilot is how we'll learn whether the app itself delivers.

  1. Luman, M., Oosterlaan, J., & Sergeant, J. A. (2005). The impact of reinforcement contingencies on AD/HD: A review and theoretical appraisal. Clinical Psychology Review, 25, 183–213. doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2004.11.001
  2. Bitsakou, P., Psychogiou, L., Thompson, M., & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S. (2009). Delay aversion in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: An empirical investigation of the broader phenotype. Neuropsychologia, 47(2), 446–456. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.09.015
  3. Fabiano, G. A., Pelham, W. E., Coles, E. K., Gnagy, E. M., & Chronis-Tuscano, A. (2009). A meta-analysis of behavioral treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 29, 129–140. Record
  4. Fabiano, G. A., Vujnovic, R. K., Pelham, W. E., et al. (2010). Enhancing the effectiveness of special education programming for children with ADHD using a daily report card. School Psychology Review, 39(2), 219–239. What Works Clearinghouse review
The 20-minute study block

Twenty minutes is short enough to start.

20 min focus5 break20 min focus5 break

The "20-minute rule" is a favorite in the ADHD world right now. It grew out of the Pomodoro Technique, which Francesco Cirillo created in the late 1980s around 25-minute work sessions. ADHD coaches and clinicians have shortened the block to 20 minutes, and the idea has spread from there.

Easier to start

Getting started is one of the hardest parts of executive function. "Just 20 minutes" is a commitment a kid can say yes to.

The finish line is in sight

A break is never far away, and every block ends with points. That fits what the research says about immediate rewards.

Planned breaks help

In a study of university students, those on scheduled breaks reported less fatigue and better focus and motivation, and finished the same work in less time. Biwer et al., 2023

The break study involved university students, not kids with ADHD, and the 20-minute block is a popular practice more than a tested standard. It's a starting point: each kid's block can be shortened or lengthened to fit.

  1. Biwer, F., Wiradhany, W., oude Egbrink, M. G. A., & de Bruin, A. B. H. (2023). Understanding effort regulation: Comparing ‘Pomodoro’ breaks and self-regulated breaks. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(S2), 353–367. doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12593
  2. Cirillo, F. The Pomodoro Technique. Developed in the late 1980s. Overview
What's inside

One core, plus the pieces each kid needs.

Core

Habits, points and rewards

Daily habits, a points system and rewards the family chooses together.

Add-on

Study blocks

Timed 20-minute focus sessions with built-in breaks, and points when each one is done.

Add-on

Grades and tests

Track GPA, assignments and test prep, so progress is visible week by week.

Add-on

College planning

For high schoolers: school list, deadlines and prep, tied back to daily work.

Design principles

Built on what actually worked at home.

Rewards that come often

Small, frequent wins, not one big payoff at the end of the semester.

Rules a kid can predict

If the system feels unfair, it gets resented. Every point has a clear reason.

Progress you can see

Points and streaks show how the week is going at a glance, for the kid and the parent.

The kid owns it

Their look, their goals, their rewards. Parents see what they need to, without hovering.

The pilot

Eight weeks, a handful of families, real feedback.

Families
5 to 10, referred by professionals who know them
Length
8 weeks
Cost
Free during the pilot. Families who want to keep going afterward get a founding-family rate.
Setup
A guided setup survey inside the app for parent and student, then a personalized app built around the student
Ask of families
Use it daily, answer short check-ins along the way, and share honest feedback at the end
Support
Direct line to me for questions and bug reports throughout

What the pilot measures

Kids keep using it

Daily use that holds up past the first few weeks.

Parents nag less

Less reminding and less conflict at home, in parents' own words.

Measurable progress

Fewer missing assignments, better grades or test prep.

Worth paying for

Whether families would pay to keep it after the pilot.

We needed it.
So we built it.

Who's behind it

For years it was the same story at our house: missing homework, half-finished assignments, and a lot of frustration on both sides. A learning difference diagnosis finally explained why. It didn't come with a fix.

So we tried everything. CBT. An executive function coach. Our school's learning support center. All good help, but none of it was there at 7pm on a Tuesday, when the homework wasn't getting started.

Then we noticed something. The apps that kept us coming back, like Duolingo and Peloton, run on small daily wins. A streak. A ding. A reason to show up tomorrow. Brains like ours love that. So we built one for schoolwork.

It worked. He studies more. We nag less. He's more confident. And the more he studies, the more sticks, and his grades show it.

Now we want to share it with other families.

Privacy and care

Built for kids, with parents in charge.

Parent consent first

A parent sets up the account and gives consent before a student uses it.

Each family's data is separate

Households are walled off from each other. Family data is never sold or used for advertising.

Support, not treatment

Happy Brain Day is a daily structure and motivation tool. It doesn't diagnose or treat ADHD, and it works alongside the professionals a family already has.

You stay in the loop

With the family's permission, I'm happy to share what we learn with the professional who referred them.

Refer a family

Know a family who might be a fit?

An email introduction is perfect, or pass this page along to the family directly.

hello@happybrainday.com
Helpful to include
  • The parent's name and best way to reach them
  • The student's grade
  • A line on what they're struggling with most
  • That the family is open to being contacted