This symmetrical ABC Circle incorporates principles of geometry, physics (color), psychology (chunking, mapping), and non-linear (holistic) thinking.

Psychologists have long known that we should "chunk" information in order to remember it easily. Thus, our phone number is chunked into a 3-3-4 pattern (example: 333-444-6666), our social security number is chunked into a 3-2-3 pattern (222-44-5555), etc. The ABC Circle has the easy-to-remember pattern: 444-22-444

Unfortunately, the traditional "alphabet song," by which most students learn the alphabet, has the following pattern: 4345-33-22. This lacks lacks the symmetry and pattern of the ABC Circle. I want to have a contest to compose a song.

Also having a "visual map" of information helps to anchor and organize the information in the student's neural system. Placing all the letters in a circle allows a student to see all of them at one time. A student can see that any letter can connect with any other letter. If the letters are in a straight line such as usually is used in a school  (ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQUSTUVWXYZ) the student has to "mentally" rearrange the letters in order to link them together into a word. In other words, in the ABC Circle the various permutations are more evident. So the ABC Circle might promote more creative, holistic thinking.

Most of the universe uses circular or spherical shapes. Gravity pulls spherically inward, while radiation flows spherically outward. Our eyeballs, our brains, the Earth, the moon, the sun, etc., are mostly spherical and they circle around the Earth, or sun, or the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, etc.

Various apps could be created for learning or for competitive games.

Some possible learning activities might be: tracing the letters, coloring the various sectors, filling-in blank circular templates, cutting out the circle, correctly arranging removable letters on the circle, building a ABC "wheel" out of "Lego’s" type shapes, watching the teacher spin a large, wall-mounted ABC wheel while calling out the letters, etc.

A spelling game could be made in which someone has to spell a word without crossing a line to the next letter. An ABC roulette wheel could be made. A large mat could be put on the floor of the classroom so that the students could stand and represent each of the letters. This mat could also be made big enough for use on the gym floor. A large circle could be drawn on the concrete of the playground and PE teachers could devise games, which used it.

(c) 2000, 2005, 2021 Bill Lauritzen