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Learning Styles

Education experts have identified three main types oflearning:*physical, *visual, and *auditory.When learning a new math concept, for example,

a visual learner

will grasp the material more quickly byreading about it in a book or watching his teacher solvea problem on the blackboard. He may need to useblocks, an abacus, or other counting materials topractice the new concept.

An auditory learner

will understand the concept if hecan listen to the teacher explain it and answer hisquestions.

A physical learner (also known as tactual-kinesthetic)

learns by doing things, activity

What are the benefits of knowing the child'slearning style?

Knowing how the child learns and processes informationis a valuable tool you can use to help him do better inschool, and develop a love of learning. If you understand that the child is a visual learner(though his style may shift over time), and thereformost comfortable using sight to explore the world, youcan play to his strength, and work on the other learningstyles — physical and auditory — that may need morestimulation.

And this isn't just theoretical. Studies have shownthat accommodating a child's learning style cansignificantly increase his performance at school.

What's a visual learner?

Visual learners rely primarily on their sense of sightto take in information, understand it, and remember it.As long as they can "see" it, they can comprehend iEducators have identified two kinds ofvisual learners:

•

Picture learners

: Picture learners think in images

•

Print learners

: think in words. They quickly learn toread and easily can memorize the correct spelling ofwords. They're also the ones who like to write.Many children are a mixture of both, althoughsome are decidedly one or the other.

Visual learners

process new information by reading, looking atgraphics, or watching a demonstration. Children with thislearning style can grasp information presented in a chart or graph, but they may grow impatient listening to an explanation.

Visual learners

benefit from seeing information on achalkboard or in an illustration and may grow impatientlistening for long periods of time. Strategies for visual learnersinclude:

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Using flash cards

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Studying charts, tables, and maps

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Drawing illustrations

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Writing things down and reviewing notes

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Highlighting and underlining

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Color-coding information

What is an auditory learner

Auditory learners understand new ideas and conceptsbest when they hear the information. They're the oneswho can follow directions to the letter after being toldonly once or twice what to do. Other auditory learnersconcentrate better at a task when they have music orwhite noise in the background, or retain newinformation better when they talk it out

Auditory learners

prefer listening to explanations over readingthem and may like to study by reciting information aloud. Thistype of learner may want to have background music whilestudying, or they may be distracted by noises and need a quietspace to study.

Auditory learners

are typically good at absorbing informationfrom spoken words. Strategies that work well for auditorylearners include:

•

Talking to themselves or with others about what they’relearning

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Reciting important information aloud, perhaps recording itand playing it back

•

Reading a book and listening to the audio book at the sametime

•

Using word associations

•

Setting information to a tune and singing it to helpremember it