Pondered In My Heart

Writing the ABCs on Little Hearts 5

 

At long last we have here the remaining alphabet coloring pages for the Writing the ABCs on Little Hearts series. This is a collection of pictures drawn by Lydia to teach an alphabet's worth of virtues to little ones. If you are not familiar with these, you can see all the other letters and download the pages in these old posts:

Alphabet Coloring Pages. 

 She also did a drawing that can be used as a cover page if you like. You can slip it into the clear front pocket of a binder and keep all of the coloring pages inside, or you can fasten your pages into a book with staples or comb binding or the like. If you use a binder perhaps you might even include little narrations done by the children as you discuss the virtue learned, or concerning the stories or picture books you use to reinforce each virtue.
 

U is for Understanding, and we see a group of girls playing paper dolls at the table. They Understand that their friend has some physical challenges and uses a wheelchair, but that doesn't stop them from having a jolly time together and enjoying each other's friendship.

V is for Valiant, and we see a big brother being Very Valiant and bravely whisking his frightened little sister away from a big snake that has crept too near to their picnic. Understanding courage in such a concrete depiction paves the way for applying the concept in more abstract applications as the child matures.

W is for Wait, and we all know that patience is a very important virtue in life. Here we see a girl watering some seedlings, and the children will practice patience as they wait for the wonder of new plant life to grow, eventually yielding lovely flowers or perhaps something good to eat.

X is for eXcellence, and we want our children to do all things with eXcellence. We see a boy at table working on his printing skills. Whether it is school work or chores or sports or play, we want our children to always do their best and strive for personal eXcellence.

Y is for Yes, Ma'am and Yes, Sir. We a girl using her best manners when speaking with the librarian, and that lady seems quite pleased to encounter such a courteous little girl.

Z is for Zeal! Just look at the enthusiasm in these cheery children clearing the table all together. Perhaps they are even singing a jolly song as they work. We want to encourage our children to do their tasks with energy and zeal and without complaining.

Download Alphabet Coloring Pages Cover

Download Alphabet Coloring Pages U-Z

Thank You once again to Lydia for drawing all of these and sharing her talents! And can you spot all of the birds she snuck in to the series? This set even has a whooping crane, one of her current favorites. :-)

More Alphabet Coloring Pages

Here is the next batch of coloring pages in the Writing the ABC's on Little Hearts series. This is a series of coloring pages Lydia is drawing to gently teach good habits and virtues to little ones - click here for the earlier pictures.

P is for Peacemaker, and we have a boy acting as Peacemaker between two children arguing over a truck. Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God!

Q is for Quiet, and we have children playing and reading Quietly on the floor so as not to disturb the person resting on the couch. Learning to be Quiet out of respect for others is an important virtue, whether it's for Dad snatching a little rest on the couch, a baby napping, a sick person or Grandma desiring a little peace and quiet, or the reverence required while in church. Shhhhh...

 

R is for Respect, and the picture illustrates the Respect that should be shown to others, especially someone older than oneself. The boy has stood up to greet his Grandma and is offering her his chair.

S is for Sacrifice and we have a picture of a girl offering the Last Cookie to her little brother. There is so much to teach little ones about the concept of Sacrifice, and the little lesson of the cookie can go a long way to demonstrate putting others first, practicing self-denial and mortification, the Golden Rule, and the little way of St. Therese. Sacrifice brings joy as we conquer our selfishness, little step by little step.

 

T is for Tell the Truth. The boy has broken his mother's china and has come to her to Tell her the Truth. Perhaps he was running in the house or throwing a ball indoors and the inevitable has happened. Mother appreciates his Truthfulness, and we can discuss the importance of Telling the Truth at all times even when it's difficult to do so.
 

Download Alphabet Coloring Pages P-T

Writing the ABC's on Little Hearts 3

Here is the next group of coloring pages for the Writing the ABC's on Little Hearts series. You can find the pages for letters A-J here.

K is for Kindness, and we have a picture of a little girl offering a cookie to another little girl in an act of Kindness. This is one of my favorite pictures, as I think the girl with the cookie looks so sweet. And that's an important part of Kindness - a sweet and gentle attitude to go along with our actions.

L is for Listen, and we have a group of children who have stopped their playing to Listen to their father who has come into the room. They have turned away from their toys, and are making good eye contact with Dad, and they Listen to whatever he has to say.

 

M is for Mercy, and we have a big brother faced with an opportunity to show Mercy as his little sister has broken his airplane. She is very sorry and has come to him in sadness, but he gives her a friendly hug and all is forgiven. We talk about how we have many opportunities to show Mercy to others throughout the day, forgiving all the little wrongs we suffer. The Lord's Prayer tells us that God will forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us. It's also never too early to teach little ones that God is an Ocean of Mercy, always ready to forgive our sins, no matter how large or small or frequent or ugly they may be.

N is for Neatness, and we have a diligent boy practicing Neatness in putting away all his toys. They are lined up Nicely on the shelf, and all is in order. Neatness and order are pleasing to the eye and soothing to the soul - another lesson well learned young.

 

O is for Obedience, and we want our little ones to learn to practice right-away Obedience. A little girl is putting her book down and getting up to go to her mother as soon as she is called. Our inspiration for the picture is St. Therese, the Little Flower, who tells us in her autobiography she would stop reading as soon as reading time was over, not even finishing an interesting paragraph. Obedience often requires that we subdue our own wills to Obey those in authority. Children are obliged to Obey their parents, and we all in turn strive to Obey the will of God.

 

Download Alphabet Coloring Pages K-O
 
 Thank you as always to Lydia for squeezing these into her busy schedule, and my dear Tech Support for scanning and formatting. Happy coloring!

More Alphabet Pictures!

We have the next batch of coloring pages in the Writing the ABC's on Little Hearts series. Lydia has done another wonderful job and given us four more sweet pictures. I can't tell you how much my little girls enjoy these - they both love to look at their coloring pages, saying A is for Always Ask, B is for Blessing... over and over again.  Kateri frequently asks about the letters that are yet to come like, What is T going to be for? but I just tell her we're not there yet. :-) 
 
  
So here we have G is for Gratitude, showing a girl thanking her mother for her food. The story of the ten lepers goes along nicely with Gratitude, and teaching our little ones to always be thankful.

 H is for Helpful, showing a boy helping an older man pick up his spilled fruit basket, and we discuss how we should always be Happy to Help even in spontaneous, unexpected situations (as opposed to the Do your Duty picture, where regular chores are implied).

I is for I'm sorry, showing a girl apologizing to her big sister for spilling the pitcher of milk. We talk about how we say I'm sorry not just when we do something wrong or hurt someone, but also when what we have done was an accident or not our fault.

J is for Joyful, showing two boys happily playing checkers indoors while it rains outside, their bat and ball cast aside. We wanted to show the concept of being content even when things are not going the way we would like, as true joy is not dependent on our circumstances.

Download Alphabet Coloring Pages G-J

And finally, my Tech Support tells me if your pages are slow to print you might find some useful tips here: PDF files slow to print on certain printers.  H is also for Helpful Husband. :-)

Writing the ABC's on Little Hearts

My two little learners have been utterly enchanted to be traveling along the Utterly Lovely Alphabet Path. They are greatly enjoying their letter studies and look forward to each day's activities. Kateri is forever asking questions like, What letter are we on? Are we still on D week? What letter comes next? Eliza is enamored with the alphabet and the beginning sounds of words and is forever singing her own ever-changing song, A is for apple, B is for bear, C is for kitty cat, D is for Dad... I decided it would be wise to capitalize on all of this Alphabet Enthusiasm and use the letter of the week as an opportunity to teach good habits and attitudes. I thought if I could come up with one word or phrase for each letter we could learn a lot over the course of the alphabet. I figured they would be captivated with anything Alphabet, and sure to remember it, and I was right.

We of course would need visuals to go along with the concepts, so I asked one of my trusty resident artists to help me out. Lydia has Graciously agreed to provide a coloring page for each of the letters of the alphabet, illustrating the habit or attitude or virtue we are trying to teach. She has completed the first six coloring pictures, and my very dear husband has formatted them very nicely for easy download and printing.

The little girls are delighted with the pages and excited to be learning new things, and they love to repeat them as I anticipated. Each week we will introduce a new concept, and keep reviewing the previous ones as well. We talk about the picture and discuss other examples of the idea portrayed.

So far we have:  A is for Always Ask, showing a girl asking permission to have an apple, B is for Be a Blessing, showing a boy taking a cake to a neighbor, C is for Compassion, showing a girl offering a drink to her sick brother, D is for Do your Duty, showing a boy doing his sweeping chore, E is for Eat nicely, showing a girl at table, and F is for Friendly, showing a boy inviting another to come and play.

 

So far it is going very well with my little girls. Just tonight Kateri asked Josiah for a drink and as he poured it for her she said, You're being a good boy, Jo Jo, showing compassion. :-) I also thought of reading picture books that go along with each letter, such as Flower Garden for B, in which a girl and her father prepare a birthday surprise for the mother. For C I thought of Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs or The Trees of the Dancing Goats, and perhaps Shirley Hughes' Alfie Lends a Hand for F. I'm just browsing my picture book shelves looking for stories that provide more examples of the idea we are focusing on for the week that little ones can understand.

I would like to Be a Blessing and share these coloring pages with you. I would also like to express my Gratitude to Lydia, who has drawn some very sweet pictures, and to Michael, my dedicated Tech Support. We hope to have more letters up next week. Happy coloring!

 Download Alphabet Coloring Pages A-F