Learning Styles!!

THE KINESTHETIC LEARNER

Ways to Spot One - A child who Wants to:

• move all the time
• touch and feel everything, rubs hands on walls, hallways, door frames as he moves
• thumps buddies
• can take an item apart and put it back together
• enjoys doing things with his hands
• is well co-ordinated, good at sports (except eye-hand co-ordination if visual modality strength is lacking)
• frequently uses fists
• may make paper airplanes
• needs to use concrete objects as learning aids
• cannot rote count or sequence material without aids
• has difficulty establishing one-to-one relationships in number values
• after age 6.5 is generally classed as an underachiever
• often described as a child who can't keep his hands to himself
• needs to explore his environment more than average for this age
• is often considered hyperactive

1. Adjustments - What can be done

• provide quiet down period after physical activities
• alternate quiet periods and rest periods
• task reward may work well
• avoid putting him too close to other children
• provide cues for end of study time - timer or clock
• encourage visits for drinks/bathroom before class
• make it harder to move than to sit still - e.g. desk against wall
• is often unaware of own movement and distracted by that of others
• may be on medication for hyperactivity - find out
• use picture to help establish associations - words/numbers/meanings
• attach verbal labels
• use visual, auditory, and kinesthetic methods for teaching writing
• allow for planned times for movement, such as monitor jobs
• Teaching methods - How to plan
• use movement exploration - adding/subtracting/prepositional concepts can be taught on monkey bars
• have children clap or tap out numbers, syllables, walk patterns of words
• use number lines on the floor - child can use heavy objects along the line for more physical feedback
• use sandpaper letters/felt letters, writing in sand/clay, 3-D materials
• child may need to talk to self for motor feedback
• use all manipulatives possible
• do lots of things with eyes shut using 3-D letters
• use lots of writing - may need to introduce with stencils
• supply concrete objects for counting sequencing, establishing patterns seeing similarities and differences

THE AUDITORY LEARNER

Ways to Spot One - A child who:

• never stops talking
• tells jokes and tries to be funny
• can win spelling bee if taught "say-spell-say" method
• is a good story teller - they get taller and taller
• has poor handwriting, a history of reversals
• can remember what is said to him and repeat it accurately
• makes a good boss
• likes records, folk dances, rhythmic activities
• has ten excuses for everything
• knows all the words to all the songs
• can memorize easily
• has a poor performance on group intelligence tests
• seems brighter than group tests reveal
• has poor perception of time and space

• Adjustments - What can be done
• take out as much noise as possible
• find him a quiet place to work
• very soft background music may help
• use as few words as you can when giving directions
• if you repeat, use the same words
• speak directly to the child
• earphones and tape recorders help cut out distractions of other noises

1. Teaching methods - How to plan

• teach him to talk through tasks
• allow him to spell out loud
• let him say syllables out loud
• have him name punctuation marks as he reads to develop an awareness of their function
• play lots of rhyming and blending games
• allow him to think out loud. Encourage oral response
• tape record lessons and tests Use records.
• pair him with a visual learner
• encourage him to use colour cues and markers
• use neurological impress method (child pointing to words while you read to him)

THE VISUAL LEARNER

Ways to Spot One - A child who:

• likes to look at books and pictures - stays with a book, not just manipulating books on and off the shelves
• loves to look at orderly things - demands neat surroundings
• can find what others have lost and remembers where they have seen things
• sees details - how you dress, if your slip is showing, errors in typing
• can find a page in a book or workbook readily - may have it half done before the others start
• can't get directions orally (if the child is timid, will copy from others rather than ask for more directions)
• likes to work puzzles
• probably will be able to make good pictures - at least ones with good balance
• can set the table correctly and remembers where the dishes belong in the cupboard
• may have a speech problem
• may watch teacher's face intently
• rarely talks in class or responds in as few words as possible

1. Adjustments - What can be done

• take out visual distraction - place him in as uncluttered an area as possible
• leave a frame of blank wall around visual displays
• on a worksheet, put a heavy line around items to help pupil attend to one item at a time
• give him a big marker
• allow him to point if necessary. Let him touch the first letter of each word
• let him get one worksheet at a time, rather than handing him several papers at once. This also gives the child a purpose for moving about as he turns in his completed work and gets his next assignment
• try not to stand in front of a cluttered background when instructing
• give him one step of an assignment at a time

1. Teaching methods - How to plan

• give lots of visual directions
• give demonstrations
• use matching games, charts, and graphs
• use maps and teach the use of a legend
• use colour coded systems
• use number frames and abacuses
• use dictionaries and give visual symbols for sounds
• use configuration clues
• have him look for words, letters, pictures in papers and magazines
• use mirror to see mouth
• use clues such as a green dot as the place to begin, a red dot to stop. This also helps to develop directionality
• allow the child to work with rulers and number lines to develop math concepts