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Learning Styles

All children have different learning styles and by teaching children early at home it is possible to identify learning styles early and appeal to them. This is just more difficult to do in a classroom or other group environment.

There are three commonly recognized learning styles:

visual, auditory and tactile/kinaesthetic

Usually people are a mixture of these different styles although it is estimated that in around 20% of people you will find one learning style dominating information that is presented in a different learning style (See Michael Grinder, Righting the Educational Conveyor Belt, Metamorphous Press, Portland, Oregon (1989) )

Visual Learners (back to top)

Visual learners learn information best by seeing it. Their eyes are the most important senses for learning new information and for survival. An eagle is a great example of a creature that relies primarily on its eyes for survival. An eagle is capable of seeing to the front and to the side at the same time. It can see fish in the water from several hundred feet above. An eagle can even see through its eyelid when it is blinking. It sees in full color and the sharpness of the image it sees is at least four times that of a person with perfect vision. An eagle can identify small prey moving a mile away. Although an eagle has amazing vision, it still has good hearing and like all birds is tactile and enjoys being preened by other birds. The eagle is a perfect symbol for a visual learner. Human visual learners love anything that involves their eyes too. They may not be able to spot a fish underneath the surface of the water but they love to read everything and keep lots of written records. A visual learner will prefer to read a recipe from a book, or use a map book rather than having someone else call out the recipe or give spoken directions. If they wish to remember something they will write it down. When learning to read, visual learners respond well to whole word flash cards and labels around the home. When they see a word, the whole word is viewed and remembered as a picture.

Audial Learners (back to top)

An audial learner learns information best by hearing it. An audial learner relies on his or her ears for learning new information more so than the eyes or sense of touch. An owl is a classic example of this. Although owls do have excellent eyesight including great night vision, their sense of hearing is even more phenomenal. Many types of owl can locate prey by sound alone. If the prey is under the snow or even in total darkness, they can still hear it moving. As you would expect an owl uses its voice often and can project up to ½ a mile away. An owl's world is very different to our world. They hear many things that we cannot. A human audial learner is much more attuned to sounds too. An audial learner may point out different sounds in the environment that others may not have even been aware of.

People who learn audially generally love to talk. They like to learn their spelling words or times tables by saying them out loud. Auditory learners prefer videos to books as videos involve the ears and books only the eyes. When learning to read, they often seem to prefer the sounds of the phonics to learning whole words through flashcards. They will also spend a lot of time on the telephone speaking with friends.

 

Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners (back to top)

A tactile/kinesthetic learner learns information best by touching it or experiencing it. Kinesthetic/Tactile learners love to do. The domestic cat is emblematic of this kind of learner. The domestic cat loves to be rewarded with a pat. It will rear up into your hand to intensify the contact. In fact, nothing will elicit a loud purr of content more than being patted or cuddled. A cat is not generally a noisy creature although it has learnt to meow back to human beings who are talking to it or to gain human attention. This is a reasonably new adaptation of the domestic cat. Have you noticed cats seldom meow to other cats? Cats eyes are also obviously well adapted to nocturnal vision and hunting but the stand out feature of the domestic cat is its effortless power of movement and its sense and love of touch. No doubt this love of touch and being touched by us, is what has contributed to it being such a popular pet around the world. Cats are great anti-stress devices and we should remember touch when dealing with the kinesthetics in our midst. Kinesethetic children love to be touched too. They are best praised with a pat on the back or a hug. They also love building with blocks and constructing. They love to dance to music and love art - more in the doing than in the admiring. Frequently, they are found outside on a bike or skateboard. When they learn to ride a bike, they learn by getting on and doing it. They do not want to observe someone else doing it or be told how to do it. Creating little plays or mini dramas to teach children with this learning style works well. CD ROM's are also excellent for kinesthetic children, as they involve interaction through the mouse, with the material.

TAKE THE ON-LINE LEARNING STYLES TEST (back to top)