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How Do Kids Learn?
A commonly asked question by parents is “What can I do to help my son or daughter be the best that they can be?” While we hope for success in our kids’ academic pursuits, social situations, and emotional well-being, it really helps to first appreciate that there are several identifiable learning styles based on distinct ways that each of us gathers as well as processes new information.
Although we are certainly not limited to a single way of learning, when we work outside our preferred style for extended periods of time, the experience can prove frustrating, stressful, and/or minimally productive. Knowing how to identify your child’s particular “learning style” and then developing ways to facilitate engaging experiences for them that are specific to how you see them best learning can provide just the kind of support they need to function optimally.
What feels right to one learner may not work at all for another. Each of us has a propensity for either learning best by looking, listening, or touching and there are specific ways to accommodate each learning style:
Visual Learners
About 65% of us are visual learners who gather information best by looking, reading, and watching. Visual learners typically tune out spoken directions and instead favor illustrated explanations or charts or graphic organizers. A visual learner can “see” ideas in their mind’s eye, remembering visual details from places they’ve visited or pictures they’ve seen.
Helpful hints for giving instructions to a visual learner include drawing a chart, using colored baskets or folders to help them organize visually, or, if you grow tired of repeating “auditory” instructions, using “visual” post-it notes.
Auditory Learners
Auditory learners are listeners and talkers. About 30% of us process information best by repeating instructions, even silently, so that we can “hear” information as we commit it to memory and learn well by discussing ideas. Easily distracted by noises, auditory learners often like background music to muffle interrupting sounds.
If your child is an auditory learner, you might try making up a rhyme or song as a way of giving instructions. Ask them to restate instructions aloud. Auditory learners can be especially responsive to word games and they learn well from instructional tapes or CD’s.
Kinesthetic Learners
Kinesthetic learners gather meaning through movement and touch. Young children depend heavily on this mode of learning, which is why it’s just about impossible for them to walk through a traditional “hands off” museum since they’re compelled to “see” by touching. About 5% of the population maintains this style into adulthood, continuing to learn best through physical interaction.
To get a kinesthetic learner motivated in at-home responsibilities, for example, hang a basketball hoop above the clothes hamper or hand them the broom or vacuum cleaner. For sequential reinforcement, touch each finger of their hand as you break a job into steps: 1. Skip to the bathroom. 2. Find your toothbrush. 3. Brush your teeth. 4. Rinse your mouth. 5. Run back for a kiss.
Observe Your Kid(s) For Clues To Their Learning Styles
Parents can watch for visual, auditory or kinesthetic strengths while observing their kids at play. As your child examines something new, does he or she move in closer and scrutinize it visually? Do they carry on a dialogue with their stuffed animals? Or do they prefer sitting on the floor and/or moving frequently? When they first receive a new board game, do they prefer having the directions read to them, or do they need to read each word themselves, or do they need to both read the directions aloud and act them out?
In addition to visual, auditory, or kinesthetic strength, each of us leans toward one of two styles for processing information: analytic and global:
Analytic Learners
Analytic learners examine information by breaking it down bit by bit and arranging it all quite logically. They like order and sequence and tend to make lists to organize details. If your child is an analytic learner, they are probably noticeably happier when life marches forward predictably, when they can know the rules and follow a prescribed plan. Analytic learners are able to see the trees through the forest, which helps keep them focused and productive.
Global Learners
Global learners may miss a few trees, but they know a good forest when they see one! They organize by clustering information into wholes with broad, sweeping strokes. Global learners focus on the larger ideas leaving the details to others. To many, global thinkers can appear disorganized because of their disregard for and/or impatience with minutiae and their willingness to jump between ideas in random ways. Global learners tend to bend rules—including schedules and deadlines—to fit what they see as a greater purpose. Such spontaneity can lead to creativity—or chaos.
Environmental Preferences
A third dimension of learning style is environmental preferences, including time of day, lighting, and setting. Most of us can identify our best times of day, favorite chairs or areas to work in, as well as other outside factors that help us concentrate well or feel particularly energized. While doing their homework, for example, some kids need frequent breaks while others can’t tolerate interruptions. Some kids welcome supervision, and another will cringe if you peek over their shoulder.
Watch for conditions under which your child finds success. Is there a particular time of the day during which they’re able to function most productively? Do they work better with a snack to nibble on? Are they more responsive when the lights are dimmed? Are they happiest in large groups or small? Ask your child to describe when and how they learn best and together experiment to arrive upon the “formula” of conditions that optimally contributes towards helping them be at their very best.
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