A more meaningful way to learn the written forms of the characters is to take advantage of the historical origin of how the characters were created as they were in ancient time (i.e., 字理識字(learning the characters by rationales)).
In the eighties, 蘇靜白 Su in 河北滄州 Cangzhou, Hebei suggested to organize the training of the characters systematically from simple to compound characters (i.e., the essence of 部件識字(learning the characters by component)).
The most traditional way to teach Chinese characters is the use of 三字經 Three Character Scripture (Three), 百家姓 Hundred Family Names (Hundred) and 千字文
Since the tradition of teaching Chinese characters using 三百千 Three, Hundred and Thousand was thrown into question, attempts were made in the fifties to break away with it.
Children in China learn the characters in schools by learning to use them in practice. This can be clearly seen in the way that most popular school textbooks for the primary level Chinese language subject are organized.
