In January 2009, I was introduced to a developmental term on a personal level as an optometrist explained yet another severe delay my son was battling.
Hearing it from an optometrist one would assume it concerned his visual acuity which refers to how clearly he saw things and whether or not he needed glasses to fix the visual problem. But this wasn’t about 20/20 vision. My son’s eyes were doing exactly what they should be doing.
What my son was dealing with was a visual perception problem. A problem between what the eyes saw and how the brain translated the information. As the optometrist put it, “The hardware is a there but there is a software problem.”
What is Visual Perception?
Visual Perception is the ability to correctly translate, understand, and organize the visual input from the environment. For example, these skills allow a child to
- look at an object and understand what it is
- notice how an object is similar or different to other objects
- recognize if an object is upside-down or right-side up
- identify if a part of an object is missing or how big it is
- recognize how far away an object is from them and from other objects in the environment1
Why are Visual Perception Skills Imperative?
Visual perception skills are imperative to reading, completing puzzles, cutting, writing, and other basic daily tasks. And, “research has indicated a positive correlation between visual perception and academic performance in writing and math.”2
On a personal level, I witnessed that if Bubs was unable interpret information correctly, reading, writing, and basic daily tasks were close to impossible to do!
The Birth of the Curriculum
Immediately I began working on creating visual perception activities that he and I could use to help correct this problem. It was through a great deal of prayer, play activities, and activity sheets that later became the ABCJesusLovesMe Visual Perception Curriculum that we were able to correct the visual perception problems that my son had and to train the brain to correctly and effectively make sense of what was seen.
But I know my son isn’t alone. While not all will have severe issues, all children need to strengthen their visual perception skills.
How Can One Improve Visual Perception Skills?
Consider the ABCJesusLovesMe Visual Perception Curriculum to be a fun way to do eye and brain exercises! Each set of worksheets include a what, why, and how as well as play-based ideas to extend learning.
For ages 4 and above, the Visual Perception Workbook includes activities for:
- Visual Discrimination
- Visual Tracking
- Visual Memory
- Visual Closure
- Sequencing
- Visual Motor Integration (including Scissor Use)
- Visual Spatial Relationships
Purchasing this curriculum includes exclusive access to helpful videos explaining how to teach each of the visual perception steps to a child. Also, enjoy watching a live video of how I introduce each set of worksheets to a preschooler. QR codes and simple passwords are provided in this curriculum to easily view each video.
