The ideas for Kinesthetic learners continue from the last post…

Let your child be physical while learning

• Allow your child to be physical when possible. Hands-on learning is very effective for kinesthetic learners. Let your child do a task as they learn it. Sometimes, it might help to let them watch you a task first, and then try it on their own. You can see which works best for your learner, you showing them first, or them trying it without seeing it first. Some examples of tasks my kids learned by doing include: feeding the dog, setting the table, putting away the silverware, writing out spelling words, and helping me make meals.

Trial and Error

• If your child is trying to solve a problem, let him or her first learn it through trial and error when possible. Step-by-step learning may not work as well with your kinesthetic learner, but the experience of doing something right or wrong will connect better for this type of learner. Remember, a kinesthetic child learns by doing what he or she is learning.

Use imagery and playacting

• Using imagery and playacting can also be helpful for kinesthetic learners. I often see my kinesthetic learner using hand motions or expressions that match the story I’m reading to him. He is literally trying to feel the story. When learning a concept, use imagery and stories to help your child to connect with and feel the concept. Playacting works the same way, because it gives your child the chance to feel the emotions or concepts that go with the words or numbers they’re learning. For example, if my son has to memorize a phrase that includes the words “help me to…”, as I’m helping him practice, I might dramatically go down on one knee, cross my fingers together, and look imploringly at him as I say, “Please help me!” He will, of course, laugh at my dramatic overtures, but he also remembers what he has to memorize! The mini-drama I displayed helped him to connect with the words that simply hearing them did not.

There will be more ideas for Kinesthetic learners in the next post.

If your child does not like to read directions, needs frequent breaks while learning, and has a hard time sitting still while learning, he or she may be a kinesthetic learner. Below are some specific examples that you can try to help your kinesthetic learner.

Pay attention to how you use verbal cues for learning

• Keep your explanations short and to the point. Auditory learners like to hear lots of words, but kinesthetic learners don’t. Using too many words can be irritating for them, and overwhelming. If your child is struggling with learning a new concept, think carefully about how to best teach them about the concept. Think about how you can involve your child in learning the concept in a physical way if possible, or at least in a way that they are involved in the discussion, rather than simply having to hear the explanation.
• Let your child discuss the topic they are learning with you. This type of learner likes to be a part of the process. By participating and talking through the information, this learner is able to be physical through their mouth and body language as they speak.
• Explain information in the order that it takes to physically do a task. Your kinesthetic learner will be imagining the process as you explain it, which is his or her of trying to experience it.

Summarize directions

• Summarizing directions for your kinesthetic learner is especially helpful if the directions are complicated or lengthy. And remember that how complicated something is depends on the person. Something that seems simple to an adult can indeed be very complicated for a child.

Let your child do it

• When possible, let your child do the skill as they learn it. For example, when it was time for me to teach my child how to use the mouse with a computer, I would usually place his hand on the mouse, and my hand over his. Together we would click on the mouse and move the mouse around to make the computer do what we wanted. The physical experience helped my child learn as he tried it himself, and my hand acted as a guide while his fingers learned the skill.

I will continue with more ideas for Kinesthetic learners in future posts.

The ideas for Visual learners continue from the last post…

More ideas on how to take advantage of visuals when possible

• Use visual association and imagery. For example, if my son is learning about the ocean, I might talk to him about remembering the beach we visited on vacation. We could discuss the plants, animals, insects, smells, sounds, etc. from that beach, and then relate it back to what he is learning.
• Use written repetition. For example, when your child is practicing spelling words, have your child write out the words that he or she is having more difficulty with. If a visual learner writes the words several times, he or she is better able to picture the word and remember how to spell it.
• Cluster data together to help your child remember it. For example, if your child is learning spelling words that are similar, try writing them down and putting them together in order. Point out where the words have similarities and where they have differences.
• Post-its and to-do lists work well with visual learners. As your child gets older and becomes more responsible for organizing his  or her homework process, these tools can be a help to visual learners. Our son’s teacher introduced this concept by teaching the students to write down which homework is due for each class topic. They have to do this daily, and the regular practice helps him to learn how to use a homework “to do” list.
• When preparing to write essays, have the learner write out the main points first, or have him or her draw a visual of the answer before beginning to write the essay. The actual writing process will be easier for this visual learner, because he or she has already imagined the answer from beginning to end.
• Visual learners tend to remember faces, but might forget names. When I was in high school or college, I could remember the face of someone I played basketball against back when I was in fifth grade, and my friends always thought that was wild. “How can you remember her from that long ago?” they’d ask me. But my struggle was with remembering names.  To help with remembering names, I often used visual association. For example, imagine that you know someone named Justin, and he has bright red hair. Then imagine that you meet someone else named Justin, and he has dark brown hair. You might create a picture in your mind of the new Justin you’ve met with bright red hair. For a while that picture of the new Justin you’ve met will help you to associate his name with your first friend with the same name.  That can help you to remember his name initially, and then eventually you won’t need the visual association to remember his name anymore.

Soon I will begin giving more specific ideas for Kinesthetic learners.

The ideas for Auditory learners continue from the last post…

Take advantage of visuals when possible

• Allow time for your child to stare into space while learning. Visual learners like to imagine what they are learning, putting the image into a picture in their mind.
• Use pictures to assist with your child’s learning. For example, draw a map or diagram of a concept while your child is learning about it. Encourage your child to draw out concepts while they learn.
• Let your child write down information as they are learning. It will help them to remember the content because they have seen it. Note-taking is a great tool for visual learners. Some visual learners will take notes during a class and never need to look at the actual notes again, because when they wrote it out in the class, the information went directly into their memory. It wasn’t hearing the information that helped them remember it, it was seeing what they had written.
• People talking or music playing in the background can be a distraction. This type of learner can focus better in a quiet place. This is not as much of an issue as it is with an auditory learner, but it can still be a distraction for a visual learner as well. Music can be a distraction because people can often associate a certain song with a picture from a movie where the music was used. Also, a visual learner might imagine the words of songs or the instruments being used, and stop focusing on the original content they were learning.
• Use neat and organized materials for the learner. Disorganized or disheveled looking materials are a distraction for this type of learner. I remember watching someone do a work presentation and I was almost annoyed when he gave out a hand drawn diagram rather than one designed on a computer. It didn’t look professional or neat to me and it distracted me for a moment during my learning experience. I was an adult when this happened, but the same type of distractions can happen for children who are visual learners.

I’ll continue with more information on Visual learners soon.

If your child likes learning by watching demonstrations he or she may be a visual learner. Below are some specific examples that you can try to help your visual learner.

Pay attention to visual distractions in the room

• Clutter of any kind can distract your visual learner. Visual disorder is very distracting for this type of learner. I often remove items from my child’s workspace so his only focus is on the learning materials in front of him. When I leave some of my papers or items out on the counter where he is working, he stops to pick them up, look them over, and ask me about them. He looks at whatever is near him that is not his homework. Rather than having to tell him to focus fourteen times, it’s easier to move those things out of his range of vision.
• Turn off the television and remove any toys or computer games from your child’s eyesight. These tempting distractions can really bother a visual learner. Movement is an easy distraction for visual learners.
• Poor handwriting can be a distraction for the visual learner who likes content to be orderly. When writing out information, write slowly so that your handwriting is neat and more appealing to their learning style. This is not an easy one for me, since I have terrible handwriting!

 

Happy thanksgiving to all of you!

Thank you to those of you who have been faithfully visiting and reading my blog!  I am thankful for you showing interest, and for your great comments!

I hope that you have a wonderful thanksgiving day.

Here are some bible verses about thankfulness.  I am thankful for being able to share them with you:

Colossians 2:6-7

Colossians 3:15

Hebrews 12:28

The ideas for Auditory learners continue from the last post…

Take advantage of noise when possible

• Have your child read the directions for his or her homework out loud, or read the directions out loud for your child if he or she is not yet able to read. When my children were preschoolers and did activity sheets, I would read or explain the instructions to them. They couldn’t read at that age, but I could use the sound of my voice to give them instructions, and for an auditory learner that is ideal.
• Use rhymes and jingles to learn information. I often put information into a song for my child. This works well when your child needs to memorize information. In preschool, they taught my son to learn his phone number by teaching him to sing it to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. The music combined with the numbers was a combination that helped him remember his phone number. The Alphabet song is another great example. An auditory learner will typically love singing the A B C’s to music.  It doesn’t matter if you are not a great singer…little ones love the sound of their parent’s voices, even if they are off-key!
• Have your child practice saying information he or she is learning out loud. You could also try having your child read information out loud. When my son is reading the weekly story they use in his class, he and I read it out loud together, taking turns with each page. He can hear the story and practice reading at the same time.
• When there is a picture in a book, discuss it with your child out loud. Often I will point to a picture in my child’s science book and say things like, “Look at what that animal is eating,” or “See how the waves are crashing on those rocks?” When I say things like this he answers and we discuss it. This helps an auditory learner by taking a visual picture and making it verbal.

One of my blog readers requested that I give some examples for the three types of learners that include more detail.  The next two posts will focus on Auditory learners.

If your child likes to learn from verbal instructions, he or she may be an auditory learner. 

Keep the room quiet

Any noises will distract an auditory learner. For this type of learner you’ll want to pay attention to the noises that could distract your child as they are reading, studying, writing, or doing any learning. Some suggestions for how to do this include:

• Turn off the television and radio
• Have your child learn in a room that doesn’t have a lot of constant noises, such as a ticking clock, running dishwasher, ringing phone, and barking dog.
• Don’t make or take phone calls while you are in the same room as your child. If you must be on the phone, go to a different room and speak quieter.
• Don’t interrupt your child with questions or comments about other things that have nothing to do with their homework. I struggled with this for a while. I hadn’t seen my son all day and was excited to share news with him. Sometimes I shared information while he was doing his homework and he would get distracted.
• If a child is doing homework in one room, and his or her sibling is not doing homework, put them in different rooms. Ask the sibling who is not doing homework at that time to play in another room, or have your child that is doing homework go to a different room. At our house, I often tell the child who does not have homework to play in one of two different rooms. It gives him a choice of two rooms to play in, while also keeping him from distracting his sibling.
• Locate learning away from doors or windows that may let noises in from outside. Kids’ voices, dogs barking, cars driving past and beeping; these can all be easy distractions from outside a window for your auditory learner.

Today’s post is the last of a series of three on learning styles, focusing on the Kinesthetic learner.

If you think that your child is a Kinesthetic learner, here are some ways to help him or her learn:

• Keep your explanations short and to the point.
• Let your child discuss the learning with you. This type of learner likes to be a part of the process.
• Use imagery, hands-on learning opportunities, and direct involvement as much as possible.
• Allow your child to be physical when possible. For example, when my son is memorizing information, I encourage him to read the information out loud while he’s walking around the room. He gets to be active and learn at the same time. Or when he is learning new spelling words, I have him write the words he is struggling with, so that he is physically practicing his spelling test.
• Summarize directions, especially if they are lengthy and complicated. But also help your child to practice reading directions, because this might not be their strong point.
• Use practice and playacting. Sometimes when my child is struggling with a concept, I will act out the concept. This usually leads to a lot of laughing, but he remembers it!
• Let your child have periodic breaks while studying, where he or she can move around. Sitting down to do homework without some physical break can be hard for this type of learner, especially after being at school all day.

I hope the last three blogs on learning styles ideas have inspired you…it was a good reminder for me to use more at home too! 

In a continued effort to write about the three learning styles, this blog focuses on the Visual learner.

If you think that your child is a Visual learner, here are some ways to help him or her learn:

• Keep the area where your child is learning free of clutter, since that can be a distraction to a visual learner.
• When possible, see if your child can sit in the front of the room, and away from wall maps, bulletin boards, and other visuals that can be distracting for this type of learner.
• Help your child to use imagery and written repetition for memorization.
• Let your child write down words, pictures, and notes as you are talking about or studying about a topic. Even if your child never looks at what he or she wrote again, because they drew it originally it helped them to visualize the learning process.
• Draw maps or charts to help them to learn concepts.
• Let them have lots of time to write out their thoughts when they are trying to solve a problem.
• Help your child learn to draw out their answers to essay questions before trying to write the answer in verbal form.

I will write ideas for the third type of learner in a future post.