From 5d961aaca0f4ac1874b5e84cd729337fbc389067 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Dan Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:11:10 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Add research doc for Early Beginner subject expansion --- docs/RESEARCH-early-beginner-expansion.md | 167 ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 167 insertions(+) create mode 100644 docs/RESEARCH-early-beginner-expansion.md diff --git a/docs/RESEARCH-early-beginner-expansion.md b/docs/RESEARCH-early-beginner-expansion.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fec99a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/RESEARCH-early-beginner-expansion.md @@ -0,0 +1,167 @@ +# DrawIt — Research: Expanding the Early Beginner Level + +_Researched June 2026. Purpose: figure out the best way to fold a batch of new subjects — +**hearts, triangles, squares, bow ties, football, basketball, clothes (shirts, dresses, socks), +trophy, eyes, faces, cups** — into the existing Early Beginner level without breaking its structure or +duplicating the new Beginner level. Research/planning only; nothing is built here. Builds on +`RESEARCH-drawing-platforms-and-techniques.md` and `RESEARCH-beginner-level.md`._ + +## 1. Where these fit — and the one rule that keeps it coherent + +Early Beginner lives in Lowenfeld's **pre-schematic** world: flat, single, recognizable subjects drawn +with confident lines. Every requested subject fits that world *as long as we keep it flat and simple*. +The pedagogy backs our existing approach almost word-for-word: teach **one shape at a time**, have the +child **trace the outline with a finger, then a pencil** (exactly our line-by-line trace runner), and +then **"think in shapes" to build objects**. So the new subjects don't need a new mechanic — they need +to be slotted into the existing **Outline → Details → Color it!** format. + +**The one rule:** keep Early Beginner versions *flat 2-D, front-on, no ellipses or depth*. This is what +separates them from the Beginner level, which deliberately teaches the same forms *with* 3-D volume. +Three of the requested subjects overlap with Beginner and must be drawn differently: + +| Subject | Early Beginner (flat) | Beginner (form) — already built | +| --- | --- | --- | +| **Cup** | A flat front-on cup: tapered sides + a handle, straight top line | **Mug** = cylinder with an elliptical rim | +| **Basketball** | A flat circle + curved seam lines | **Beach ball** = sphere with shaded panels | +| **Football** | A flat pointed oval + laces (American football) | (n/a — no conflict if we keep it American football, not a round soccer ball) | + +Keeping the EB versions flat means a child *feels* the level-up when the same object returns in Beginner +with real volume. That's a feature, not redundancy — worth saying so in the lesson copy. + +## 2. The new subjects, grouped and sequenced + +With the new objects **and** a batch of ~19 animals (below), Early Beginner grows from six subjects to +nearly forty. The pedagogy ("introduce one shape, then the next, then build objects from them") and every +competitor app point to the same answer: **group Early Beginner into themed groups with a gentle +difficulty ramp.** Proposed groups, easiest → hardest: + +| Group | Subjects | Why here / teaches | +| --- | --- | --- | +| **1. Simple Shapes** (new, foundational) | Square, Triangle, Heart | The literal building blocks; pure confident-line practice. The natural *first* thing a brand-new artist draws. | +| **2. Animals & Nature** (existing classics) | Fish, Panda, Flower, Unicorn, Tree, Dinosaur | The current core — recognizable subjects from combined shapes. | +| **3. Safari Animals** (new) | Lion, Elephant, Giraffe, Zebra, Rhino, Leopard, Tiger, Monkey, Crocodile | Bigger animals from ovals + legs; pattern practice (stripes, spots). | +| **4. Woodland Critters** (new) | Fox, Bear, Deer, Rabbit, Hedgehog, Owl, Cat, Turtle | Small rounded animals; cozy, high-appeal, very simple silhouettes. | +| **5. Up in the Air** (new) | Bird, Butterfly | Tiny, symmetric, great confident-curve practice. | +| **6. Fun Things** (new, objects) | Bow tie, Football, Basketball, Cup, Trophy | "Things are made of shapes": two triangles = bow tie, circle + seams = basketball, etc. | +| **7. Things to Wear** (new, clothes) | Shirt, Dress, Socks | Flat front-on garments; simple symmetric outlines + one detail (collar/hem/stripe). | +| **8. Faces & Features** (new, capstone) | Eyes, Face | The hardest EB skill — symmetry, placement, proportion. Do **Eyes first**, then **Face**. | + +### About the ~19 animals (from Dan's reference picture) + +The reference image is a stock/commercial illustration, so we will **not trace or copy it** — that would +lift someone else's copyrighted artwork. Instead we draw our **own original** simple line-art versions of +the same animals in DrawIt's existing rounded doodle style (poses of our choosing). The animal *subjects* +themselves aren't protectable; the specific drawing is. New animals (none overlap with the existing six): +**owl, monkey, bird, butterfly, leopard, fox, rabbit, tiger, turtle, bear, deer, zebra, crocodile, cat, +hedgehog, lion, giraffe, rhino, elephant.** They use the same 3-phase format and per-subject badge as +every other EB subject; they're split across the Safari / Woodland / Up-in-the-Air groups above purely so +the list stays browsable. + +This keeps **Fish → Outline as the free flagship lesson** (unchanged) while giving newcomers an even +gentler on-ramp (Simple Shapes) and a satisfying capstone (Faces). Within Faces, eyes are taught before +the face because the face lesson reuses them, mirroring how face tutorials build the eyes on an eye-line. + +### Per-subject sketch (shapes → what each phase does) + +Each subject keeps the **3-phase** EB format. "Detail" is where we make a plain shape *fun*. + +- **Square / Triangle / Heart** — Outline: draw the shape (trace it). Details: give it a cute face + (two eye dots + a smile) so even a square has personality. Color: fill it in. _(This is how we justify + 3 phases for a trivial shape — see §3.)_ +- **Bow tie** — Outline: two triangles meeting at a center knot. Details: a small square knot + fold + lines. Color: pick a color + polka dots. +- **Football (American)** — Outline: a pointed oval. Details: center lace stripe + stitches. Color: brown. +- **Basketball** — Outline: a circle. Details: one vertical + one horizontal seam, two side curves. + Color: orange. +- **Cup** — Outline: flat tapered cup body + straight top line + a handle. Details: a rim line + a + steam swirl. Color. _(Flat — contrast with Beginner's cylinder mug.)_ +- **Trophy** — Outline: a cup bowl on a stem + base. Details: two handles + a "★/#1" + shine marks. + Color: gold. +- **Shirt** — Outline: center line → shoulder line → trapezoid body → two sleeves → neckline (the exact + beginner method from the research). Details: collar + a pocket or stripe. Color. +- **Dress** — Outline: bodice + A-line skirt (triangle-ish). Details: waistline + neckline + hem. Color. +- **Socks** — Outline: an L-shaped tube. Details: cuff line + heel/toe + a stripe. Color. +- **Eyes** — Outline: two almond shapes on a line, one eye-width apart. Details: iris + pupil + a white + highlight + lashes/brows. Color. _(Teaches the "eyes sit halfway, spaced one eye apart" rule.)_ +- **Face** — Outline: a round head + faint center line + eye line. Details: eyes (on the line), nose + (halfway to chin), mouth (a third below nose), ears, hair. Color. _(The EB capstone.)_ + +## 3. Phase handling — the one real design question + +For animals the 3-phase format is obviously right. For a **square or a heart**, "Outline → Details → +Color" risks feeling padded. Two options: + +- **(A) Keep all subjects 3-phase (recommended).** Make the *Details* phase "make it cute" — add a tiny + face or pattern. This keeps the data model, gating, badges, and UI perfectly uniform, and turns a + boring shape into something a kid wants to finish and color. Pedagogically fine: the outline phase is + pure shape practice; details add confident small marks. +- **(B) Add a one-step "warm-up" lesson type** for pure shapes (single phase, no detail/color). More + faithful to "it's just a square," but it's a new lesson shape to special-case in the runner, learn + page, gating, and badges — more code for little gain. + +Recommendation: **(A)**. It's zero new mechanics and more fun. Flagged as a decision in §6. + +## 4. How to implement it in the codebase (no schema change) + +Everything reuses the patterns the Beginner build just established. + +- **Data model:** each new subject = **three `Lesson` entries** (outline/detail/extra) in + `src/lib/curriculum.ts`, identical in shape to the existing Fish/Panda/etc. Per-subject badge on the + **Detail** lesson (`badgeKey: "early-beginner--"`), exactly as today. **Early Beginner keeps + per-subject badges** (not the per-pack badges we used for Beginner) — these are bite-size wins for the + youngest users. +- **Sublevels:** continue the existing `subjectIndex*10 + phase` scheme (phase 1/2/3). New subjects get + indices 7+ → sublevels **71/72/73, 81/82/83, …**. Sublevels are namespaced by `level`, so an EB sublevel + never collides with a Beginner one (they differ by `level`). Assign indices by group order from §2. +- **Grouping (the only new UI work):** rather than tag every lesson, add a small **groups config** keyed + by `subjectKey` (e.g. `EARLY_BEGINNER_GROUPS = [{ key, name, emoji, subjectKeys[] }]`) plus a + `getGroupedSubjects(level)` helper that buckets `getSubjects()` output into ordered groups (anything + unlisted falls into a default group). The Learn page then renders Early Beginner as `
` group + sections — the same accordion treatment Beginner packs use, **minus** the pack badge (EB keeps + per-subject badges). No per-lesson field and no edits to the existing six lessons required. +- **Art:** extend the existing generator approach (`outputs/gen_beginner.py` / the earlier `gen4` + pattern) — define each subject's `lines` as simple geometric SVG, render a **cairosvg montage** to + verify, then emit the curriculum entries. These subjects are mostly primitives (circle, oval, triangle, + trapezoid, almond) so the art is quick and low-risk. +- **Badges/awards:** no changes — the emoji-medal badge art and award PDF already work for any + per-subject badge. +- **Unlock gate:** unaffected. Beginner still opens after 5 completed EB lessons; more EB content just + gives kids more ways to get there. (Optionally bump the threshold later, but no need.) +- **Free lesson:** unchanged — `fish-outline` stays the one free, no-account lesson. +- **Landing page:** today it shows every EB subject as a teaser grid. With ~19 subjects that's a wall — + recommend the landing show only **Group 1 (Simple Shapes)** plus an "…and lots more" link, so the + marketing page stays tight. Small change in `src/app/page.tsx`. + +## 5. Suggested rollout phasing (when we build) + +- **Phase A — Grouping UI + Simple Shapes** (square, triangle, heart). Proves the group treatment. +- **Phase B — Fun Things** (bow tie, football, basketball, cup, trophy). +- **Phase C — Things to Wear** (shirt, dress, socks). +- **Phase D — Faces & Features** (eyes → face), the capstone. +- **Phase E — Animals** (the ~19 originals, across Safari / Woodland / Up-in-the-Air). Largest art effort; + done last because each animal is an organic doodle (more drawing work than the geometric subjects). + +## 6. Open decisions for Dan + +1. **Phase handling for pure shapes** — go with option (A): keep all subjects 3-phase, with a "make it + cute" Details step? (Recommended.) +2. **Grouping** — add the lightweight EB group UI (Simple Shapes / Animals & Nature / Fun Things / Things + to Wear / Faces), or keep Early Beginner as one flat list? +3. **Football** — American football (pointed oval + laces, no overlap with basketball), or a round soccer + ball (which would duplicate the basketball circle)? (Recommend American football.) +4. **Group order** — put **Simple Shapes first** (before the existing Animals), as recommended, or keep + the existing animals first and append the new groups after? +5. **Clothes scope** — three garments (shirt, dress, socks) to start, or add more later (hat, shoes)? + +## Sources + +- [How to Draw a Face for Kids — Art Projects for Kids](https://artprojectsforkids.org/how-to-draw-a-face/) +- [How to Draw a Face: Facial Proportions — The Virtual Instructor](https://thevirtualinstructor.com/facialproportions.html) +- [How to Draw a Face — How to Draw for Kids](https://howtodrawforkids.com/how-to-draw-a-face/) +- [How to Draw a Nose and Eyes — How to Draw for Kids](https://howtodrawforkids.com/how-to-draw-a-nose-and-eyes/) +- [Teaching Shapes to Preschoolers — ABCJesusLovesMe](https://www.abcjesuslovesme.com/ideas/teaching-shapes) +- [Discovering Shapes and Space in Preschool — NAEYC](https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/apr2014/discovering-shapes-and-space-preschool) +- [Exploring Shapes — Mensa for Kids](https://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/lesson-plans/exploring-shapes/) +- [How to Draw a Dress — How to Draw for Kids](https://howtodrawforkids.com/how-to-draw-a-dress/) +- [How To Draw Clothes Step By Step (For Kids & Beginners)](https://how-to-drawa.com/clothes/) +- [Easy Clothes Drawing Tutorials — Easy Drawing Guides](https://easydrawingguides.com/easy-clothes-drawing-tutorials/)