#AD – This is a collaborative post
Children learn in different ways and understanding the way in which your child absorbs information will help you get the best out of them. Children learn using their various senses, but often they process information more efficiently through one of their senses than the others. Being aware of your child’s dominant sense and how they learn using it will enable you to support them more effectively. This guide from an Independent school in Hertfordshire outlines the various learning styles children use.
Visual
Visual learners respond better to images and other visual elements. They like to see what they’re learning and remember things by sight, often conjuring up an image in their heads of text or pictures on a page to recall information. Children who prefer learning in this way might prefer to read a story rather than have it read to them and may benefit from seeing concepts and ideas written on a board rather than explained to them aurally. They may like to take notes and study by looking things over. You can support these types of learners by writing things out for them and providing them with as many opportunities as possible to access and recall visual information.
Auditory
Aural learners like to listen to information and hear people speaking in order to understand concepts and ideas. They rely more on repetition and may have difficulty processing visual information such as diagrams and charts. Children who learn aurally may respond better to hearing people speaking and tend to be good listeners. As such, they would benefit from verbal directions and reinforcement, reading aloud, and activities like group discussions. You can support them by repeating words and phrases and getting them to repeat them in return.
Kinaesthetic
Kinaesthetic learners process information through movement and touch, rather than listening and watching. They respond better to tactile representations of information, and hands-on learning. You can support such learners by allowing them to figure things out by hand and creating associations between specific movements and corresponding ideas and concepts. If your child is a kinaesthetic learner, they might like learning activities such as drama and role-play, dance and sports-based activities.
Look out for signs of these different styles when you’re monitoring your child’s learning. By playing to their strengths and how they most effectively learn and retain information, you’ll be getting the best out of them.