The Different Learning Styles

STORY Jenna Galley

Everyone learns differently. Some of us like to be shown what to do, some of us like to read instructions or diagrams, some of us prefer to watch and learn. Children are no different.

While every child processes information at their own pace and in their own way, experts have identified seven main learning styles.

Your child may fit into one category perfectly or may be a combination of more than one. Knowing which learning style best works for your child allows you to help them process new information in a way that is engaging, exciting, and beneficial to them.

The Different Learning Styles

Visual or Spatial Learners

• Like to map out, draw or write out their thoughts in order to really process what they are thinking • Tend to have a good spatial sense and sense of direction • Can easily visualise objects, plans and outcomes • Enjoy visual art like colouring, drawing, doodling and painting • May benefit more from watching a tutorial or even seeing a movie clip rather than reading instructions or listening to the literature being read aloud Aural or Auditory Learners

• Respond best to sound, have a good sense of pitch or rhythm and often excel in musical programs • May benefit from learning through oral presentations and reading aloud • Tend to focus better with music playing in the background • Can often remember lyrics • Use songs to help memorise and categorise information. For example, your child may make up a rap to help them remember key information for a test.

Verbal or Linguistic Learners

• Are the ‘wordsmiths’ – Verbal learners find it easy to express themselves on paper, have a way with words and often breeze through written assignments. • Excel in things like public speaking, journalism and debate – anything that involves either written or spoken word • Enjoy reading, writing, poetry and languages • Process information by writing it down through things like cue cards or through the popular Look Cover Say Write Check strategy used in many primary schools • Can also process information by reading the content aloud.

Physical or Kinaesthetic Learners

• Enjoy a hands-on approach to learning • Respond well to doing something for themselves rather than simply watching • Learn best by going through the motions of what they are learning and by ‘getting their hands dirty’ • Often learn through messy play, role playing, model building and physical movement • Benefit from taking plenty of physical breaks or going for a walk to try and wrap their head around a concept

Logical or Mathematical Learners

• Focus on the reason behind the content or skill • Often classify or group information together to help them understand it • Respond well to agendas, lists, how-to and procedure-based learning tools • Need to see the bigger picture, along with the logic and reasoning, to fully understand the concept

Social or Interpersonal Learners

• Work well in groups and teams • Prefer to bounce ideas and concepts off other people in order to fully understand them • Benefit from group assignments, reading circles, math rotations and other group work in class

Solitary or intrapersonal learners

• Learn best through independent work • Spend a lot of time on self-analysis • Prefer a quiet, solitary place to study and process information • Benefit from writing thoughts and ideas down in a journal or diary to help them process information

Supporting Your Child’s Learning Style

Regardless of how quickly your child is learning or what process they take to get there, the most important thing is that we are supporting them in the best way we know how. Here are six ways to do so:

Try different strategies to see which ones your child responds best to. Ask your child which learning strategies he enjoys the best, whether this is using graphs or diagrams, playing a memory game using sight words or maths equations or making up a song to remember the capital cities.

Give them the tools they need. This may be an organiser for logical learners, colourful pens and cue cards for visual learners or an audio book for aural learners. Physical learners may benefit from a fidget tool or even a timer so they know when they can take a break and let off some steam.

Organise a special study space at home. For solitary learners, make sure this space is quiet, calm and away from other siblings. For social learners, consider doing homework together as a family so you can spit ball ideas off each other.

Make learning fun. For aural learners you may want to include headphones so they can listen to music. For visual or verbal learners, you may want to provide plenty of extra notebooks and paper so they have lots of space to map out their thoughts.

Use family time to cater to your little learner’s style. For example, suggest doing a group project as a team to engage your social learner or set up a friendly family debate or public speaking contest for your verbal learner.

Think outside the book. Look for ways to explain concepts other than through the traditional reading and note-taking which may not always work for your little learner. Audio books, YouTube tutorials, podcasts, diagrams, even heading outside with them and discussing the concept while walking may be beneficial.

Remember, there is no wrong way to learn, even if it’s different to what you were taught or how you retain information. Take advantage of the various tools we have to accommodate the different learning styles, ask your child’s teacher for additional ideas on helping your child with homework and learning at home and always keep an open mind. Your little learner may surprise you!