Creative Mode
A blank notebook.
Open to an empty page. Your child writes whatever’s on their mind: a story they’re inventing, a feeling, a question. Sit beside them and prompt “what happens next?” Rumo draws what they write, instantly.
Write. Reflect. Grow.
How it works
From a child's first pencil to their first 900 words.
Step 1.
Write naturally.
Your child grabs an Apple Pencil and writes a word, a sentence, or whatever's on their mind.
- Step 1.
Write naturally.
Your child grabs an Apple Pencil and writes a word, a sentence, or whatever's on their mind.
- Step 2.
See your words come alive.
Rumo reads what they wrote and turns it into a picture. “I run after the beach ball” sprouts a tiny runner chasing a beach ball.
- Step 3.
Build your first 900 words.
Choose from standard word lists like Dolch, Tier2, or custom word lists. The default word list is 900 words that cover more than 90% of what children read and write in school.
Inside the kid app
Two modes. One notebook.
Rumo opens to a single notebook with two ways to use it. Creative Mode is a blank page where your child writes whatever’s on their mind. Learning Mode walks them through short, grade-appropriate lessons, one at a time.
Learning Mode
Structured, by grade.
Short modules from 1st through 5th grade, each tuned to age-appropriate sight words and sentence structures. Kids work through one lesson at a time and the notebook fills up as they go.
1st2nd3rd4th5th
Why writing
Writing is one of the most powerful ways kids internalize what words mean.
Rumo is built around one idea: write every day and become a better reader. Comprehend the meaning of words with deliberative practice.
Read more →The Rumo difference
Phonics teaches kids to decode. Writing teaches them to think.
The country that asks 1st graders to write the most also reads the best.
Japan · PIAAC 202390%
United States · PIAAC 202372%
Figure · 1st-grade writing time, weekly
In 1st grade, Japan spends roughly 18× more time writing than the US.
Built for both sides of the desk
Loved by parents. Chosen by schools.
For families
A reading habit you'll actually keep.
- Fifteen minutes a day, side-by-side with your kid.
For schools
An add-on to whatever literacy program you use.
- Teacher view of every student's writing over time.
Team
Built on lived experience and decades of research.
Founder
Hiroshi Mendoza
MIT engineer, Stanford d.school designer, built Rumo for his niece on the conviction that language is learned by using it.
Advisor
Guadalupe Valdés
One of the field’s leading voices on bilingual education and language as social practice.
Grab the pencil.
Unlock your kid's imagination.
Built for learnersDesigned for growthTrusted by schools & families
From the field
Students at a homeschool pilot wrote 1,000 sentences in just one hour.