In this month’s blog, I want to take a look at another one of my favorite apps, myMemoir. Many children start their school day by journaling as part of their morning routine. This very simple journaling app allows them to complete that task on the iPad, thus eliminating some of the fine motor demands.
Let’s take a closer look at what this app can do:
- Create your own journal. Select “Add Journal” in the upper left-hand corner. You are able to customize the colors and background experience within the app, as well as back your journal up to Dropbox or another file sharing source.
- When you are ready to make an entry, click on the journal. Then in the upper right-hand corner, click the calendar icon to select the date of your entry and select “Create New Entry”.
- You will then be prompted to add a photo, which can be anything from your camera roll. Many children want to journal about a photo they took, an experience they had, or even something they have created in another app, such as a doodle or drawing. There are a variety of creative and art apps which allow you to save your finished masterpieces and drop pictures of them in your camera roll. Once you select your photo, you will have the option to move and scale it. Click “Use” once you are finished.
- You are then ready to start journaling! You can type using the onscreen keyboard or use a Bluetooth wireless keyboard. If you are connected to Wi-Fi, you will also have the option to use dictation via the microphone icon on the bottom left-hand corner of the onscreen keyboard.
- Once you are finished, you can “Save” your entry by selecting the Arrow in Box icon in the upper left corner. You will also have the option to “Share” as a PDF. Simply scroll to the bottom, and you can either “Email”, “Export” or move to “DropBox”. If you select “Export”, then select “Open In”. This will allow you to export to any of your other apps such as Google Drive. For school purposes, this is a great and easy way to submit work!
- Some support tips and tricks:
- Utilize the word prediction on the keyboard to speed up typing.
- To edit your journal entry, highlight the entire entry and select “Speak”. As long as you have Speak Selection” enabled in your settings, this text to speech option will be available. This gives valuable auditory feedback for children trying to proofread and edit.
myMemoir is available at the iTunes Store for $1.99. For more app recommendations, check out our apps section or view my app page on the St. Louis Children’s Hospital website.
– Nicole Weckherlin, OTR/L, St. Louis Children’s Hospital Occupational Therapist