Hi!!

I had my grandson pick out one of the Shapel characters, and he wanted “one of the guys,” so he chose Ricky Rectangle, “my favorite”! I showed him SHAPELTOWN on the computer, and then he wanted to play some games, so we played a few of those, and he had a ball!! I then had him show me some Ricky Rectangle items around the house and he loved that! I’ll have him do some more looking around today—he was very enthusiastic—-:>)

 I’ll be reading the “Ricky Rectangle” book to him when it arrives—can’t wait! When he was here yesterday he called my attention & showed me that he’d made a “C” with one hand and a circle with the other. When I asked him what that was, he said “Cindy Circle”!    I just stood there w/my mouth open in amazement, as I’d just showed him the PICTURES the day before—–nothing else!!!!

 Iris

Dear Shapels,

I would like to share my kids excitement for the www.shapels.com. They are absolutely ecstatic over this!  My daughter is 8 years old and my son is 3 1/2 and they truly love playing with the Shapels, they treat them like they are their friends!!  My son especially loves the train and the rectangle.   My daughter loves exploring the little town and discovering different features . In the morning they could not wait to get out of the bed and grab the iPad to play with Shapels. 

I am going to recommend this site to my son’s preschool teacher, I’m sure other kids are going to love it as well !

Kindest regards,

Evelina

 

Margaret – Parent  

My son had “Miss Evie” for a nursery school teacher when he was three years old and at the time he had very little interest in learning anything or using any type of writing utensil.  When he was introduced to the shape characters, his whole attitude and interest changed in school and at home.  My son was so thrilled with these characters that he was constantly sharing all the copies we made with his friends.  He was always coloring them, and he even began to draw them freestyle.  The whole process of learning the different shapes became so much fun that he started to look forward to learning new things.

I feel that all young children should have the opportunity to be introduced to the shape characters that Mrs. North has created.  The characters are so adorable, and it is very easy for young children to fall in love with them and to be learning something at the same time.

Note:  That same year her son turned 4 and insisted on having a Ricky Rectangle cake for his birthday.  His Dad baked the cake (he had never baked a cake before) and they sent me a picture.

Janine Bell– former Preschool Teacher   (The first teacher to use the SHAPELS with her class).

My class is made up of 12 preschool children (3 and 4 yr. olds) with the majority of the population having special needs.  I can’t begin to tell you how excited they were to learn the poems to the different shapes.  One little language delayed child fell in love with Cindy Circle.  Her language skills are demonstrated at the 2 year level so you can imagine how thrilled we were to hear her repeat select words from the poems.  Gestures were used for the rest of the poem.  Since the SHAPELS were received so well, they will remain permanent in my Pre-K Curriculum!

Comments from Janine years later…….

Prior to our use of the SHAPELS, teaching shapes appeared to be so routine and unimaginative.  “This is a circle.  Let’s find circles in the classroom” and of course, the usual art projects using the shapes.  When the SHAPEL characters arrived in our classroom, teaching shapes became exciting. The children became very connected to the shapes.  I especially remember one little girl who had a severe language disability. She spoke very little but became very animated when she recited her favorite SHAPELS poem about Cindy Circle. It has been many years but I still remember her excitement.

After about six years using the SHAPELS in the preschool classroom, I left to teach older students.  However, I have saved all my SHAPEL poems and characters from my preschool days.  Recently, I became a new grandmother.  When my precious granddaughter is ready to learn her shapes, I will excitedly introduce her to Cindy Circle, Ricky Rectangle, Suzy Square, Tommy Triangle, Debbie Diamond and Otto Oval!  I wonder which one will be her favorite?

 

Barbara – Retired Kindergarten Teacher

For a number of years, I introduced my kindergarten students to geometry by using the SHAPELS. Cindy Circle and Tommy Triangle and the rest of the SHAPELS became classroom favorites because students could relate to these loveable characters.  Using the songs, poems, and pictures of the SHAPELS made learning and remembering shapes fun and easy.  My students and I loved them.

Patricia – Retired Preschool Teacher

Unique…Creative…Imaginative…Stimulating—all this and more are words to describe SHAPELS!

As a teacher of a classroom composed of students with special needs integrated with typical peers aged 3-5 years old, I had the opportunity to utilize SHAPELS for fourteen years of my 38 year teaching career. The children’s response to them was a huge hit and instantly captured their hearts and minds.

Every January I would begin using SHAPELS by introducing my students to “Cindy Circle” at our daily circle time. It was easy to incorporate a rap beat to the words making it very catchy. Every 1-2 weeks another SHAPEL became our new friend. What a fabulous tool for language stimulation as well as for learning rhyming words and the full spectrum of colors! Even my non-verbal students were enthralled by the SHAPELS as they attempted to join in the repetition of Go! Go! Go! at the end of the Cindy Circle verse. As a teacher it was like music to my ears to hear those little ones accept the challenge of speaking. Through SHAPELS, students were able to transfer information learned and identify objects in the environment that fostered “Suzy Square” and “Tommy Triangle,” etc. After each SHAPEL was introduced and learned, students were able to select a favorite one and perform a solo—what a wonderful experience for fostering self-esteem and independence!

Each week, an art project was coordinated with the new SHAPEL friend that was presented. The 3 year olds traced the outside of the various shapes and then got to glue various tactile as beans, mini-marshmallows, cheerios, popcorn, pom-poms etc. around the shape’s formation. This addressed the sensory approach to learning. The 4 year olds would independently cut out the various shapes and create each character using yarn for hair, felt for boots or shoes, craft sticks for arms and legs. After the completion of the project, the students had the opportunity to draw the SHAPEL face. Not only did the projects benefit the students, they also benefited the school and classroom as the completed creations decorated the hallways within the school as well as the classroom bulletin boards.

The culmination to our SHAPEL unit was a memorable visit from their creator, Mrs. Evie North. She enthusiastically arrived at our classroom with her SHAPEL town in tow and mesmerized the students with songs, games and actual figures-train included. What a treat it was for them to actually see their SHAPEL friends right in their classroom circle! My students got to close their eyes and use their imagination as they participated in many different learning levels. They even got to create their own new SHAPEL and gave it an original name. Imagine how thrilling that was for each participant! At one of our pre-school “End of the Year” celebrations each child did a solo SHAPEL chant of choice, using the microphone and acting in true character—it was so adorable and parents showed approval with amazement and pride at their child’s progress.

I cannot say enough about SHAPELS. They are wonderful motivators and tools for learning for pre-schoolers of every level and ability. It is without hesitation that I whole-heartedly endorse this fun, stimulating and nurturing learning program which I am sure will be an asset to every pre-school who adopts it for their classroom.

 

Annmarie – Preschool Teacher

I am writing this letter commending the SHAPELS program. I am a preschool teacher in a public school system. I have used this program for the past 12 years. I truly believe that it is a wonderful learning opportunity for preschool children to learn their shapes and so much more.

Quite often the children ask excitedly, “Are we going to do the SHAPELS today?” When I tell them “yes,” they are very eager to participate in the lesson. In conclusion, based upon my experience with the SHAPELS program, I highly recommend this program for preschoolers and kindergartners.

 

Linda – Preschool Teacher

The SHAPELS have added a great deal to my three year old program.  The children are forever telling me they found a Cindy Circle or a Tommy Triangle whether it be in their lunch or something they see in the room.  The SHAPELS have really taught the children to be so aware of shapes everywhere.

 

Kristen – Preschool Teacher

I just wanted you to know the SHAPELS are working well in my classroom.  We have been taking our time introducing them one at a time.  The children seem to be learning them well.  After 2 weeks (with a 2 week vacation in between), they are able to identify circles and squares.  That’s pretty good considering those are the only two we have introduced so far.

In my classroom, I am using a large Cindy Circle and Suzy Square on two separate bulletin boards along with the children’s “circle” and “square” artwork.  It helps to refer to them during circle time.

 

Jo-Ann – Former Preschool Teacher

Using the SHAPELS not only helped my class learn through a motivational stimulus but it also supplied a fun and creative way of introducing a concept. The children would pick out shapes around the room and associate them with each SHAPEL character. I am enclosing copies of some of the pictures that a little boy in my class drew while he was at home. His mother brought them in to show me and commented that he was saying the poems to himself as he drew the pictures. He was very proud of having done them all by himself.
 

Carolyn– Preschool Teacher

The creative and imaginative way you introduce your shape characters captures the imagination of our youngest students. You integrate various paths for our young ones to grasp an understanding of shapes. They are able to experience the world of shapes both visually and audibly as well as being able to have the opportunity to interact physically with your creations. As I feel three and four year olds learn best with hands on interactive activities, your dramatic introduction to shapes is a valuable teaching tool. Giving the students an additional opportunity to use their own imaginations to create a new character only enhances the learning experience.
 

Carol – Preschool teacher

We have used the SHAPELS at our nursery school for many years, and each year we have the same response from our children: they always LOVE the SHAPELS. The accompanying poems are catchy and easy enough for the youngest three year olds to remember and enjoy.
 

Lisa Roberts – Preschool Teacher and owner of two preschools

The SHAPELS have added a great deal to my three year old program. The children are forever telling me they found a Cindy Circle or a Tommy Triangle whether it be in their lunch or something they see in the room. The SHAPELS have really taught the children to be so aware of shapes everywhere.
 As a teacher of preschool students for over 15 years, I have used many tools and manipulative activities in my classroom. The one staple component that is used over and over in our curriculum is our SHAPELS packet. It is an innovated, ready to use design to provide students with activities that introduce and reinforce basic colors and shapes. The shapes are fun and colorful characters that are very attractive to small children.

Learning to recognize shapes and call them by name is fascinating. Each poster illustrates each shape and goes along with a catchy simple song that the children love to repeat daily. Children enjoy mastering the words Rick Rectangle, Cindy Circle, Suzy Square, Tommy Triangle, Otto Oval, and Debbie Diamond. They are heard year round in our program.

Along with the posters we utilize the reproducible coloring sheets and love to make the Popsicle stick puppets. In the packet are also hands on ideas for games and creative art activities.

Our Center has been fortunate to have Evie and the SHAPELS visit and experience the story with real 3-D characters, songs, and games related to the shapes. These SHAPELS are such an important part of our program.

I would highly recommend this packet for any early childhood program that wants to enjoy the adventures of the SHAPELS.

 

Deborah and Cathy – Reading and Language Arts Specialists

Mrs. North has visited our kindergarten classrooms just about every year and presents a story presentation around her SHAPEL characters. Poems she has written provide an auditory reinforcement for student learning. The SHAPELS provide a creative way to review shapes with our kindergarten students. Teachers have continued to use SHAPELS in their teaching and find that children are motivated to learn using this program. We strongly recommend the use of the SHAPELS in preschool and struggling readers in kindergarten.

 

Kate – Parent

Thank you for the SHAPELS demonstration. My son was so excited by it that he promptly put on his own presentation at school, complete with posters. And his sister was definitely inspired as well.
(“I draw a SHAPEL Mama, see?”).

 

Susan – Parent

The shape characters make learning so much fun. Not only do the children learn the shape of each character, they also use their small motor skills in coloring the characters and their audio skills to learn the song or poem. My daughter has enjoyed these characters immensely, and I hear her singing the words during all kinds of activities. When she sees a triangle, she’ll say, “Look Mommy, there’s a Tommy Triangle.”