Interactive learning software

Critical thinking for every young mind

Manière, LLC is an early-stage education-technology venture based in Carlsbad, California. We are designing interactive software that helps young people build the strategic and critical-thinking skills that open doors — starting with the students who have the least access to them.

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Help shape Manière from the start

We are in the earliest stages of building. If you are an educator, district leader, parent, or partner interested in co-designing or following our progress, we would love to hear from you.

Carlsbad, California

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About Manière

The mission

As a brand-new venture, we are focused on closing the opportunity gap by putting engaging learning tools within reach of the classrooms and communities that need them most.

The approach

We are in the early days of transforming rigorous problem-solving into thoughtfully designed learning experiences. Our first software prototypes meet learners where they are and grow with them, building focus, reasoning, and confidence that last far beyond the screen.

From the chessboard to the classroom

Community HousingWorks

The summer before her senior year of high school, Deeana Dawson hosted a chess club for underserved youth at a community center in Vista, California. She watched students light up as they calculated moves, solved problems, and out-thought opponents. That is where the idea for Manière began.

The class grew so popular that adults began joining too, and Community HousingWorks wanted to bring the program to the rest of its 38 properties.

We are just getting started: our goal is to take the focus, reasoning, and confidence those students found at the chess board and turn it into interactive learning tools they can carry into the classroom and beyond.

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The Manière approach

Three ways we build thinkers

Game-based by design

We turn rigorous problem-solving into games kids actually want to play, with challenges that sharpen their thinking as they go.

Built for equity

We design with the students and community centers most systems overlook, so the best thinking tools reach the kids usually left out.

Growth you can see

Progress signals are built into the product from day one, so students, mentors, and educators watch reasoning skills climb instead of guessing.

Castle the King

A taste of what we're building — a one-minute, tap-to-learn intro to castling, the first chess move that keeps your King safe. Give it a try.

👑

Castle the King!

Learn the special move that keeps your King safe — in one minute.

⭐Short castle

⭐Long castle

👋Tap the glowing King to begin!

The dream team

♚

The King

Slow and precious. He can only step one square at a time, so he needs protection.

♜

The Rook

Strong and brave. Castling is his one chance to leap over the King and guard him.

When they team up, the King gets a cozy little castle wall. 🧱

Before you castle

3 quick things to check

1

Nobody moved yet

The King and that Rook must both be on their starting home squares.

2

The path is clear

No pieces standing between the King and the Rook — they need room to swap.

3

The King is safe

He can't castle out of danger, or walk through a square an enemy is attacking.

Why do it?

Castling tucks your King into a corner behind his pawns and springs the Rook into the game. Safety and teamwork in a single move!

👑🏰

You did it!

You learned both ways to castle — the short castle and the long castle.

Monet's Light

A taste of our art history track — a one-minute, tap-to-learn intro to Claude Monet and how he painted the same scene in changing light. Give it a try.

🌅Morning

☀️Midday

🌇Sunset

🎨Monet painted the same pond again and again. Tap a time of day to repaint it!

The Lily Pond

Meet the artist

👨‍🎨

Claude Monet

A French painter (1840–1926) and a founder of Impressionism. He loved painting outdoors, right in front of what he saw.

🌅

How Impressionism got its name

Monet called one painting of a harbor at dawn Impression, Sunrise (1872). A critic poked fun at the title, and the name stuck to the whole movement.

Look like an Impressionist

3 things to spot in a Monet

1

Quick, visible brushstrokes

Look closely and you'll see little dabs of paint instead of smooth, perfect lines. Step back, and they blend into a scene.

2

Light is the real subject

Monet cared less about the pond or the haystack and more about how sunlight changed its colors minute by minute.

3

Painted outside

Impressionists often painted outdoors (the French call it en plein air) so they could catch real light and weather as it happened.

Why paint the same thing twice?

Monet made whole series of the same subject — haystacks, a cathedral, and the water lilies in his own garden at Giverny, France — to show that the same place looks brand new in different light. You just did the same thing!

🎨🌼

Bravo, artist!

You painted one pond in three kinds of light — just like Monet did with his famous series.

Deeana Dawson

Deeana founded Manière, LLC while studying Economics at the University of Southern California. The idea took shape the summer before her senior year of high school, when she hosted a chess club for underserved youth at a community center in Vista, California. She saw students grow more focused, confident, and strategic in just a few weeks and realized that the right learning tools could reach far more.

Her background in market research, investment analysis, and business analytics helps her approach Manière with both curiosity and discipline. She is currently focused on early-stage product development and building partnerships with the educators and community organizations who will help shape the platform from the ground up.