A Simple Solution for a Not-so-Simple Learning Issue by Mika Nonoyama
I am a University professor, and a healthcare clinician. So…I am familiar with teaching and learning from an instructor and student point of view. I am also a parent of two beautiful children. My eldest was (and still is) a natural independent learner, and an optimal fit for the school curriculum and teaching methods. Phew! Then my free-thinking, emotional, and tenacious son came along two years later. My educational training and experience did not prepare me for the steep learning curve in my son’s educational journey.
As my son moved through pre-school, and early elementary school it was clear his learning style did not “fit” like his older sister. Descriptions of “a young grade one”, or “doesn’t pay attention”, “refuses to write”, “had to stay in for recess” or “has a stomach ache” started to become more frequent. As the years past, he fell more and more behind because he was not doing the work. Both my husband and I were tasked with helping him complete his work at home (in addition to our full-time jobs). What we saw was a boy who was able to learn and understand the school’s curriculum; but not doing the work to prove he did. We had several meetings with the school, had lots of testing done with several professionals, and identified learning and attention issues. One such issue was writing. One of the biggest barriers was (and still is) his sensitivity to the touch of paper, and the sound a pencil and eraser makes on the paper. These things cause him to stop writing, become frustrated, and shut down. If you think about it: without writing, school and school work are impossible.
Several recommendations were put forth in an Independent Educational Plan (IEP) that included technology to help my son “write” his understanding of math, science, and language. However, using talk-to-text is limited because it often misunderstands speech, or is difficult for things like math. We tried to use a plastic sheet to put under his hand while he wrote, with fine point click pencils to minimize the sound on the paper. But this physically got in the way, and slowed him down. And if he ever lost the plastic sheet or specific pencil (or it became unavailable), forget it! We tried to use a plastic acetate with dry-erase markers, however the writing would smudge easily. All of these things caused barriers to his writing, and we haven’t even got to the learning issues yet.
One day a friend told me about the Rocketbook. When I felt the paper, and understood how it worked I thought it might be a solution for my son. I asked his tutor, occupational therapist (OT), and teachers their opinions on the Rocketbook. None of them had hear of it before. I was quite surprised to find out how long this notebook had been on the market. Once the Rocketbook arrived I presented this as an option to my son. You can’t imagine the thrill he (and my husband and I) had when he wrote in the Rocketbook with a pen, while touching the paper directly. He was even more thrilled about the fact that erasing was so easy either with the rubber tip (for smaller errors) or with the wet cloth. No horrible sound! He really enjoys the ability to scan, and I love the ease of sending his work to a Google Drive where his tutor, OT, and teachers can access it. We have even shared his work with his Aunties. A side effect of this experience, is I have made his “learning team” aware of the Rocketbook so they can use it as a potential tool to help others.
Although my son still has issues writing his thoughts down, taking away this physical barrier has made a huge difference in his progress. He writes more details voluntarily. This is a huge step in his learning, and his happiness.
