We don’t all learn the same way and most of us probably know what our learning style is, but what about your child? You may know whether you are a visual, audio or kinesthetic learner and now you can check to see what kind of a learner your child is. Figuring this out about your child, could be useful in help your child succeed in school. We all process information differently; some learn best by hearing, others must be able to see and yet there are those who need to have hands-on experiences. Here are some signs for each learning style:
Auditory:
· Likes to talk about new experiences and new gained knowledge (you get to learn everything he/she has learned)
· prefers to listen to explanations rather than reading them
· Recite information out loud
· Likes to have background music or may need to have absolute quite when studying
Visual:
· Is impatient listening to things being explained
· Learns best when looking at visuals of schedules or graphs
· Learns best by reading the information
Kinesthetic:
· Have trouble sitting still while doing homework
· Must take notes (learns better by writing them down)
· Learns better by doing it (hands-on)
Though most people use a combination of the senses to learn, each person has a preference. If you are able to understand the child’s learning style, homework, and studying becomes much easier tasks for you and the child. For instance if the child is learning to read and he/she is an auditory learner, it may be more beneficial to provide him/her with a book on tape so that the child can listen and read at the same time. Setting new information to tunes helps the auditory learner as well (come up with fun little jingles increases learning and memorization). That is the reason we learn songs and finger plays in preschool years because it helps with academic success in later years.
If the child is a kinesthetic learning and is struggling with math, play a board game that uses dices and counting because this will help the child learn addition, subtraction and counting. The kinesthetic learner may also enjoy playing with a stress ball while studying. Taking frequent breaks and walking around is helpful to this type of learner. Doing hands-on activities is how a kinesthetic learners process information best.
If the child is a visual learner, you can use flashcards, study charts, color-coded information, highlighting, drawing illustrations and writing things down. In our preschool I have the children draw and write journals on the topic of discussion. For instance if we are learning about birds and nests, the children draw a nest and a bird and write about what their bird is doing.
Being aware children’s learning style is fun and it can be beneficial in helping the child succeed in school, so take time to observe the child to learn more about his/her learning style.
Books to read:
Classic Fairy Stories and Classical Music (book and audio) Read by Bernard Cribbins.
Miss Nelson is Missing (book and audio) By: James Marshal.
Hop, Skip, and Sing Spanish (book and audio) By: Ana Lomba
Website to visit:
http://www.education.com/magazine/article/auditory_learners/