As a mother and teacher I quickly learned that each of my children learned in different ways. Each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses and I had to learn each of their unique learning styles in order for our homeschool to run smoothly.
However, there is one thing that each of my students do have in common, even down to my three year old…
The love of ART!
Since the time each of them could hold a crayon they have loved making art in their own way, making some kind of doodle to be enjoyed. The looks on their faces and the way they light up as they see their creation appear is always intriguing to witness.
I decided to try introducing a letter a week to my four year old preschooler last year (we started a little before he turned five). I didn’t want to just do it with song or holding up a letter but instead wanted to have a full hands on experience for him.
Since he loves art so much I thought making the letters into things he could enjoy would be the best way. This definitely was the best way for him to learn as he has enjoyed every bit of it.
Before making the artful letters we do a week of learning the letter, how to write the letter and singing songs about the letter. I knew that being able to retain information would be easier if we focused on one letter at a time and repeated the same activities throughout that week. He knows exactly where to go to grab his papers and pencil and begin his writing.
There were some letters that frustrated him more than others and those we had to work on a little longer than a week. That’s one of the benefits I love about homeschooling is the fact that we can take our time and go at a pace that suits each child. We never move on to the next letter until I know for sure he’s got the current one down.
Once he masters the recognizing and writing part we then move on to the art.
I draw and cut out most of the parts. I like the artwork to have his personal touch on it so I do encourage him to draw little bits and even cut out things like circles and rectangles etc. Like with the lowercase d he drew the dragon’s crown as you can see in one of the photos above.
I have him do most of the gluing which he really loves. I have to be there monitoring or he would use a whole glue bottle for just one letter. 😆
The cool thing about this is my three year old daughter is learning right along with him. I’d say from watching him write his letters and helping him do the art she now knows about 15 letters of the alphabet! I love that my kiddos learn together.
After each upper and lowercase art letter is completed they are filed into his 3 ring binder letter notebook. After each letter I add in his best writing sheet for that letter. This book serves as a good practice and study guide as he gets to look at it anytime to enjoy and study them.
It’s been really amazing hearing and watching how well he is doing in his preschool co-op class. He has been able to do all the things assigned to him as he is already familiar with his letters.
Although we are currently on letter R I am learning that he pretty much knows the rest of the alphabet already. He too watched his older siblings learn and was able to get a head start at recognizing the alphabet. We will still continue going through the rest of the alphabet as we were so that he can have a complete letter reference book.
He is so proud and amazed that this book was made by him. He helped with every single letter! ☺️
This is another thing all of my children have in common. They appreciate and take care of the things they help make and this sense of accomplishment encourages them to keep doing their best. It’s a boost of confidence I love seeing in each of them.
After we have finished the alphabet we will work on numbers 1-20. He knows how to say each of these numbers but still needs help recognizing and remembering them (mainly numbers 13-20). He will be working on these as he prepares to enter kindergarten.
I look forward to doing this same process with our youngest. She already loves art and gets excited when it’s time for my son to do a new art letter. She’ll have her own letter book as well.
If you’re interested in where I got this letter art from here is the source link. 😉
Well we’re off to learn the letter Rr now! 👋🏽
I’d love to hear how you taught your preschooler the owlphabet 😃!!
Nice artsy ideas. Oh, Mr. Owl is too cute.
Don't laugh please, the first photo registered to me as Dinosaur. 🦖🦕 Why I always mistake dragons for dinos, i don't know. Lol.
My kids learned the alphabet and phonics through youtube. 😅 Supplemented by lots of readings and alphabet blocks.
😄😄😄 Sorry I laughed a little but I understand why dinos and dragons could get mixed up. Lol
Oh we learned a lot thorough youtube as well. There are so many nice learning songs and videos on there. We watch them on unschooling days. 😁
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing ~ 😊
That is an amazing idea to combine the letters and the art. I love it i may give it a try with both kids i think they will like it😉
Cool! I hope they enjoy and love it as much as we do. I do hope you give it a go! 😃
Thanks for the comment ~
What a beauty, the dragon is beautiful, how well he learned and in a fun way and just as you say, children also learn by repetition, the support of the mother is so important for these difficult moments ... Congratulations, you are an exemplary mother. 😘
Thanks @ayleenr! I think the dragon is his fav. ☺️
I really appreciate you, thanks so much for your sweet comment ~ 😘
❤️😘
I was taught reading and writing in state school, but when we moved I went to a Rudolf Steiner school and was put into kindergarten due to my age. They don't start teaching formally until the year you turn 7, so it's play based until then. So when I started in class one they were learning the alphabet which I already knew, despite not remembering any of that process. I loved these new lessons, though, because we got to learn three letters through drawing and making each of them into an object they could represent. To this day I vividly recall drawing a house with uppercase H as its base shape.
I didn't get to teach my own girls to begin to read and write, as they started out in the school system, but I think I would have then the creative approach too. I just tweaked things a bit and helped them with ways to break down words, remember which way letters went, etc.
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That is really neat how you distinctively remember the H and the art you did to go along with it. That confirms that learning in such a way helps with retention.
Thanks for sharing about your experience with learning and teaching and thanks for the feature ~ 😊
Oh my word!!! This is a FANTASTIC idea. I'm SO going to copy it. Starting tomorrow. You are so clever @crosheille! My littlies also love art but in area of the Owlphabet I've been flat out of ideas.
Oh wow that's awesome you're going to do this! I'm sure your kiddos will love it just as much!! Yay!! Art is so much fun!!
@crosheille wow very creative art.Thanks for share your home idea.
You're welcome. It's always a pleasure sharing here. 😉
Thanks for the visit ~
Very nice artsy learning, you just gave me an idea that I can do it too. Thank you (^_^)
Thank you @afterglow! That’s the great thing about this platform is that we gain ideas from one another. 😉
You're welcome. Yes, this community helps a lot. I am glad to be part of this amazing community.
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cool , goood job !!😊
Wow @crosheille i can see you are doing very well with the children and I love that you understood the fact that not all of them are really quick in learning and understanding a particular thing at a particular time most of them can understand it just when it’s taught and most children might understand it the next day when learn continuously and most children might even take up to some days to understand a particular topic so it's very advisable for any teacher and also parent to study there kids and know how things works for them so they could help them effectively, your doing well @crosheille ma