Five Years Since "If There's No Ideal Cram School, I'll Create One Myself." Now, with "AI Nobi Sensei," We Aim to Deliver "Sottaku Dōji" Inquiry-Based Learning to Children Across Japan.

Our company supports April Dream, which aims to make April 1st a day to announce dreams. This press release is a dream of "Slow Learning School Nobiteku."

Our dream is to create a society where children across Japan, regardless of their living area or family environment, can encounter "Sottaku Dōji" inquiry-based learning.

To achieve this, Slow Learning School Nobiteku has developed the AI interactive inquiry learning app, "AI Nobi Sensei."

**The Starting Point Was, "If There's No Ideal Cram School, I'll Create One Myself."**

Five years ago, I felt there was no "ideal cram school in Japan," so I launched my own online cram school. That is **Slow Learning School Nobiteku.**

What I sought was not merely a place to cram knowledge. It was a place where children could deeply engage in learning autonomously, starting from their own curiosity, forming questions, thinking, and expressing themselves in their own words.

Inquiry-based learning is inherently very rich. However, in reality, it is difficult to fully realize in both schools and cram schools. This is because to truly get inquiry on track, one must not miss the child's internal movements of "being curious" and "wanting to know more," and intervene at the perfect timing—neither too much nor too little—in sync with that moment.

"Sottaku Dōji" (啐啄同時) guidance, This is not easy. Rather, it is extremely difficult.

That is why, for five years, I have accumulated practical experience in this dialogue-based "Sottaku Dōji" guidance, engaging with each child through online individual dialogue.

**In the AI Era, Japanese Education Can No Longer Avoid "Inquiry."**

And now, times have changed significantly.

As AI enters an era where it can replace "information organization, summarization, and analysis" at low cost, the value of merely memorizing knowledge is no longer as high as before. What will be strongly demanded of humans from now on is the ability to **formulate questions, think, articulate, and create.**

This is also true in the world of education. Indeed, I believe education is the area that must change first.

Japanese education, too, will increasingly have to shift towards an inquiry-focused approach. Entrance exams, school education, and the skills demanded by society—all are becoming insufficient with just "the ability to quickly find correct answers."

What is needed is: **Autonomy** **Writing skills** **The ability to formulate questions**

**However, the Real Nobi Sensei Alone Has Limits to the Number of Children Who Can Be Reached.**

Fortunately, Nobiteku's practices have been well-received. Children not only increased their knowledge but also began to engage in learning on their own, showing deeper thinking, changes in language, and broader curiosity.

On the other hand, there are practical limitations. There is an unavoidable upper limit to the number of children a real Nobi Sensei can engage with individually.

We truly want to reach more children. We want to reach children and parents across Japan. However, even online, traditional one-on-one instruction has its limits in terms of reach.

To overcome this barrier, **AI Nobi Sensei** was born. (Click here for the AI Nobi Sensei website) As an "alter ego" of the real Nobi Sensei, it observes each child's developmental stage and learning situation—including their grade level, vocabulary, comprehension, interests, and personality—plans an approach tailored to them, and responds with content optimal for their "current moment."

**AI Nobi Sensei Is Not Just a Convenient AI.**

AI Nobi Sensei is not just an AI chat. Nor is it a convenient tool that immediately explains everything, like typical learning AI.

At its core is the philosophy of "Sottaku Dōji."

"Sottaku Dōji" is the idea of discerning the other person's internal readiness and nascent awareness, and intervening at the perfect timing. If you genuinely want to foster a child's autonomy, explanations and assistance should not be excessive. You need to support children to move forward while leaving room for their choices and judgments. AI Nobi Sensei places this concept at the center of its dialogue design. On its official page, it emphasizes fostering writing skills and autonomy, and highlights the value of daily and monthly reports for parents as its core.

Therefore, AI Nobi Sensei is not just an "AI that provides answers." It is an **AI designed to foster autonomy, writing skills, and the ability to formulate questions through "Sottaku Dōji."**

**Why Deliberately Choose "Text-Based Dialogue"?**

AI Nobi Sensei deliberately removes even the image attachment function, focusing on extremely simple "text-based dialogue." This is because we genuinely want to develop children's **writing skills.**

Writing skills are not just about composition techniques. They are the ability to structurally organize thoughts. The ability to logically summarize so that it is conveyed to others. The ability to transform ambiguous feelings and questions within oneself into communicable words.

In the AI era, this ability becomes critically important. This is because AI can quickly return seemingly plausible answers even to vague instructions. Without the ability to correctly set preconditions, and to articulate one's intentions completely and without contradiction, one risks being swayed by AI.

That is why AI Nobi Sensei is designed to allow children to naturally develop their writing skills through enthusiastic dialogue, starting from "what they want to know."

**Significant Value for Parents Too.**

AI Nobi Sensei's value is not just for children. It also holds great significance for parents.

AI Nobi Sensei provides a dedicated parent dashboard with **daily reports** and **monthly reports.** What is visible there is not just mere progress.

Expansion of interests Deepening of questions Changes in language Growth in thinking Sometimes, even the emotional movements behind a child's statements

Such growth, which is difficult to quantify, becomes visible.

This allows parents to understand: "What is developing now?" "What will happen next?" "How should I watch over them in daily life?"

Anxiety is alleviated, and growth can be celebrated. Seeing the progress allows parents to confidently watch over their children. We believe this value is extremely significant in future home education.

**Our Dream**

Our dream is to deliver "the joy of autonomous learning" and "Sottaku Dōji inquiry-based learning" to many more children and parents across Japan through AI Nobi Sensei.

Not something that reaches only limited regions, limited families, or limited numbers of people, But something we want to deliver more widely to those who truly need it.

And in the future, We hope to create a society where it is more naturally shared that "inquiry is not just for a select few special children," but that "autonomy, writing skills, and the ability to formulate questions are essential foundations for all children."

Precisely because we are in an era where AI is expanding, There are abilities that only humans can cultivate. And those abilities can be nurtured from childhood.

We want to expand that potential with AI Nobi Sensei. That is our April Dream.

~AI Interactive, Autonomous Inquiry Learning Web App "AI Nobi Sensei"~ https://nobiteku.com/ai-nobi/

[Company Profile] Company Name: Via Consulting Inc. Location: 37-18 Tachiiri-cho, Moriyama City, Shiga Prefecture Representative: Toshiharu Takamoto Established: January 13, 2009 Company URL: https://via-method.com/ Slow Learning School Nobiteku URL: https://nobiteku.com/ Business Activities: Management and human resource development consulting for corporations, online cram school for children.