Most people have a combination of learning styles but one is usually stronger.

Here is a basic summary of each style:

Auditory: mainly learns through listening to directions, takes notes from speeches, likes talking on the phone, sounds out words phonetically, remembers verbal directions.

Visual: learns through looking at charts, pictures, diagrams, movies, illustrated procedures, remembers from seeing rather than listening.

Kinesthetic: learns by doing and moving, does an experiment by touching and feeling the materials, learns language by getting together for a conversation with a partner, gestures while speaking, uses expressive language.

By understanding your child's learning style it is easier to impart a new concept in a way that can be heard, seen, or experienced first hand.

Here is a short exercise on learning to count that gives you an idea of these different modes of learning.

The setting could be a classroom. One student at a time marches across the room while other students watch.

The moving student and all class members count and clap one number for each march step. So, 10 march steps would be counting to 10.

Here is how the learning styles break down with this exercise:

The visual learners are seeing the student take 10 steps while counting to ten.

The auditory learners hear the numbers counted out loud 1 - 10, and hear the 10 claps.

The kinesthetic learner claps one time, and moves one march step per number, experiencing the 10 steps by moving.

In this one lesson each of the learning styles has been accommodated.

In the links following to the 'Kinesthetic Learning' series and 'Math while Moving' series each of the lesson plans accommodates all 3 learning styles.

Kinesthetic Learning - Introduction
Kinesthetic Learning - Lesson Plans for Printing ‘b’ and ‘d’
Kinesthetic Learning - Forming Shapes for Alphabet Letters
Kinesthetic Learning - About Syllables
Kinesthetic Learning - Developing Concentration
Kinesthetic Learning - Game to Practice Reading and Writing Left to Right
Math while Moving - Addition and Subtraction
Math while Moving - Counting
Math while Moving - Clapping Patterns and Sets
Math while Moving - Geometric Shapes
Math while Moving - Learning to Tell Time
Math while Moving - ABA Sequencing

Article by Susan Kramer

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