Patent Application
20160284227
This invention was not federally sponsored.
This invention relates to the general field of educational books, and more specifically to a book with tactile letters, numbers, shapes or symbols that facilitate a multi-sensory approach to learning. In particular, this application discloses a book with letters, numbers, symbols, shapes or some other desired topic is portrayed where the components of each letter, number or symbol (hereinafter referred to as “item” or “items”) are given tactile characteristics such that in addition to sounding out the item, the learner can physically trace the item based on directions given on the page. Next to each item to trace is a named picture relating to that item, along with a phrase describing the physical directions a finger should take in tracing the item.
For purposes of example, we shall describe in some detail one embodiment of the invention: namely, the lowercase letters of the English alphabet, but it should be understood that the same process behind making such a book and using it to teach students could just as easily be used for numbers, shapes such as squares, rectangles, triangles, circles, ovals, hearts, stars, diamonds, hexagons, etc., symbols, and foreign languages, including those such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and numerous Middle Eastern languages that have alphabets dissimilar to those relaying on the Latin alphabet and its derivatives.
The tactile characteristic we shall use as an example shall be raised dots with directional arrows indicating the order in which a user traces the parts of the letter with his or her finger. It should be realized though, that a number of other tactile characteristics and permutations are contemplated that could also allow a user to learn items through this multi-sensory approach. For example, the tactile characteristic could be raised directional arrows that direct a person in how to trace a particular item. Alternatively, dots could be created with several different heights, such that a user could trace the parts of an item with the height of the dots indicating the order of the parts of the item. Another embodiment could have the star, at which the user begins to trace the item, raised or otherwise made more distinctive, or perhaps to have an ending symbol, also raised or otherwise made distinctive.
A primary goal of this invention is to provide an educational tool by which children can learn the alphabet and the proper creation of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, shapes, symbols of a person's native language. The process of learning through manually tracing an item and repeating a phrase describing the tracing, however, can also be used in a variety of other situations. For example, the invention could be used by children or adults learning a foreign language using characters not familiar to them; tracing a foreign language character or symbol according to kinesthetically-theorized directions given on the page while reciting the sound the item makes is an excellent way to learn a language. The more ways a person tries to learn a language, the more “brain anchors” are created and the more quickly the language can be learned, thus, combining the sound, the sight, and the physical tracing of the letter produces superior learning results to methods relying upon just one or two of these aspects of learning.
In addition, the invention can be used for people with dexterity challenges, as the tracing of each item practices the hand movements necessary for creating that item later on by writing. Patients suffering from dementia and other mental issues also benefit from the multi-sensory approach to creating and memorizing language items.
The invention is created by selecting a genre of items—such as lowercase English alphabet letters—and selecting a font that lends itself to easily transferring into handwriting. A picture representative of that item is selected along with a written description of the physical movements needed to trace the item in the correct order. On the path of the directed tracing is some sort of tactile object, or series of objects, such that the user of the invention gets a physical response from correctly tracing the intended path. So, for example, the lowercase letter “a” could have an apple as the picture, along with the phrase “a as in apple” with an “a” with raised dots, a star designating the beginning point, arrows to direct the finger on how to move to trace the item, and a phrase such as “around, close, down” to describe the direction of the finger. Studies have shown that tracing a textured letter is an excellent way to gain a muscle memory of the letter as a precursor to writing. Because there are significantly less finger lifts in the types of fonts selected for use in this invention, there is less of a transition to cursive writing. Students exposed to the look and sound of the letter develop a muscle memory of the simple cursive letter as well, which will help them later on as they begin to write.
This invention was created to fill a need in educational books designed to provide a multi-sensory approach to learning. There exist already a number of books designed to teach the alphabet, numbers, etc., but none combine the multi-sensory approach of this invention. For example, there are books with “sandpaper” letters that a student can trace, but there are no directional suggestions. There are also books using raised bumps to allow for tracing of letters, however, these are more of a “connect the dots” layout rather than a continuous tactile series, and there are no descriptive phrases covering the direction a finger takes in tracing the letter.
The prior art also teaches pages with depressions to help with spacing of characters, but these fail to teach the proper writing movements. The prior art also shows a lack of recognition of the benefits of using fonts that have few “finger lifts” during the creation of a letter or number, the more easily the learner of the letter or alphabet will have in recreating that letter or number via cursive writing, which puts a premium on minimizing the number of pen or pencil lifts from the page. The prior art also fails to identify and capitalize on the use of a font which has been proven to facilitate translating the muscle memory from finger movements to eventual cursive writing. In short, while many prior art references teach part of the combination proposed by this invention, none teaches this combination, which has proven extremely successful in teaching people to memorize and reproduce items.
One attempt to use tactile communications is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,844 to Gasper et al. This patent discusses a method of printing small letters that are raised slightly to provide a tactile sensory experience to the user of the invention. The small letters are related to larger letter or character it forms, such as using a hundred or so small “z's” to create a large “Z”, as illustrated in
However, this product has a number of limitations. For example, while tracing the shape of the letter may assist in memorizing the letter, there are no “hard skills” being taught, such as learning to write cursive through establishing muscle memory. There are also no directions on how to make the letter, thus while the user may memorize the letter begin taught, he/she will pick up no practical, physical skills associated with actually being able to create the letter.
Thus there has existed a long-felt need for a multi-sensory educational book that effectively teaches items such as letters, numbers and symbols to children and adult learners. The current invention provides just such a solution by having a book where each page combines an item, a picture associated with that item, a phrase describing that item, tactile indicia directing the user how to trace the item, and a memorable phrase describing the movements of the person's finger.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an educational tool where a person can learn a letter, number or symbol through tactile tracing of the item combined with other visual clues.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a tactile learning tool for people with visual or memory problems, and has proven to be very effective for kids with disabilities such as autism.
Another object of the invention is to teach muscle memory to a person learning the alphabet or numbers, by teaching then the shape of the letter or number with a finger.
A further objection of the invention is to enforce both the physical and mental memory of a letter or number through reinforcement through multiple media
A further object of the invention is to teach penmanship and cursive writing by having a person learning how to write trace each letter or number in a set, specified pattern with a set, specified starting point.
It is another object of the invention to consistently use a single item or shape to locate the starting point for the tracing of a letter or number.
A final object of the invention is to allow for the raised indicia to include symbols like directional arrows and differences in the sizes and/or orientation of projections,
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. The features listed herein and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
It should be understood that while the preferred embodiments of the invention are described in some detail herein, the present disclosure is made by way of example only and that variations and changes thereto are possible without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims, and a reasonable equivalency thereof, which claims I regard as my invention.
One preferred form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with references made to the drawings below. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. Instead, emphasis is placed upon clearly illustrating the components of the present invention. Moreover, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts through the several views in the drawings. Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention are not limited in their application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The embodiments of the invention are capable of being practiced and carried out in various ways. In addition, the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As contrasted with the prior art, the invention as described herein provides a superior method of teaching a person or child how to draw a letter or number. First, because each letter or number in a series has a star, or other symbol to show where to begin the tracing, there is a consistency that a learner can use to always approach learning a letter or number in the proper manner. Second, because the invention lends itself to cursive writing, the memory of an individual letter will lend itself later to handwriting skills. Third, because each letter or symbol comes with oral directions, the learner is reinforced through a combination of multiple senses.
It should be understood that while the preferred embodiments of the invention are described in some detail herein, the present disclosure is made by way of example only and that variations and changes thereto are possible without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims, and a reasonable equivalency thereof, which claims I regard as my invention.
All of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in official governmental records but, otherwise, all other copyright rights whatsoever are reserved.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/138,111, filed on Mar. 25, 2015, the contents of which are incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62138111 | Mar 2015 | US |
