Kids Who Learn by Seeing

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Kids Who Learn by Seeing

The Visual Learning Style

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Remember the feeling of exhilaration you had the day your baby was born?

You gazed at his tiny face, amazed by that absolute perfection and innocence.

Did you suspect that he was already hard at work, examining his world,

collecting information and beginning to construct the foundations of his future

self? As babies, children begin to experience their world by moving, touching

and tasting. They listen, they observe and begin to make sense of their

environment. Multi-sensory learning provides maximum opportunities for infants

to expand their knowledge of the world around them.

Learning styles are typically described under three basic categories:

kinesthetic, visual and auditory. All new information comes into the brain

through the five senses and each one of us has preferred modes of processing

that information.

Some of us learn best by touching, some by listening. Visual learners rely

largely on their sight to take in information. Some people may be strong in more

than one area, however most people learn best in one or two preferred modes.

Bradway, PHD, a Speech Language Pathologist and author of the book How to

Maximize Your Child's Learning Ability, refers to the three styles of learners

as Lookers, Listeners and Movers.

" Knowing about all three styles, " says educator and counselor Dr.

Budd, author of Living with the Active Alert Child: Groundbreaking Strategies

for Parents, " will enable you to help your child strengthen skills in the areas

she does not naturally favor, so that she gains other pathways to information. "

Infants begin honing their visual skills from an early age. Long before

they can organize their physical movements they are taking in information about

their world. Your daughter may not be able to control her arm or hand movements

but this tiny baby is exploring a great deal with her eyes. Newborn babies will

stare at faces that are 8 to 12 inches away and can track objects that are moved

slowly across their visual field. Researchers have found that they prefer simple

shapes and patterns, particularly those that contrast against a background

color. Studies have also found that infants can even imitate facial expressions

when they are just three days old! They eventually learn to recognize familiar

and unfamiliar people, they distinguish shapes, sizes and configurations of

objects around them.

If you talk to your six-month-old baby about circles and triangles, you'll

no doubt receive a blank stare. But if you show her pictures of one shape and

then the other, the blank stare will be replaced with intense concentration.

These rudimentary observations of similarities and differences provide the basis

from which children learn to recognize numbers, letters and eventually words.

Gardner, founding father of the Multiple Intelligences

Theory, has suggested that all people possess at least eight different

intelligences. These intelligences operate in varying degrees depending on the

individual. Visual learners rely primarily on their sense of sight to take in

information. Because they think in terms of images, they have keen powers of

observation and are acutely aware of everything in their environment. Has your

child ever reminded you of something you did even when you thought he wasn't

paying attention? Has she remembered the route to a friend's house after going

there only once? Visual learners seem to take in everything. They may notice

particular clothing that people wear, may be intrigued by certain colors or

shapes and can describe in detail the cement mixer that you passed earlier that

day. As we go about our busy day, these children are quietly and consistently

collecting data. They enjoy visual order and may even have very particular

preferences about organizing their toys and belongings. Some visual learners may

be distracted by background noise, movement, and touch and may prefer a quiet

environment when working on puzzles or artwork.

Some of the traits that will tip you off that your child is

primarily a visual learner:

a.. loves watching you and other people in his environment

b.. tuned into body language and expressions

c.. has an active imagination

d.. enjoys writing and forming letters

e.. aware of signs and labels

f.. good at comparing shapes and letters

g.. enjoys drawing and painting

h.. observant, points out things of interest

i.. enjoys looking at books for long periods of time

j.. enjoys sorting objects, stacking blocks, LEGOs

Parents need to be good observers themselves to identify the

learning strengths of their children, but it also doesn't hurt to tune into our

own learning styles. Ullrich Tobias, author of Every Child Can Succeed:

Making the Most of Your Child's Learning Style, and The Way They Learn " says

" We, as parents, must first recognize our own natural learning styles. As we

recognize how we learn new information, we can better understand what comes

naturally to us and to our children, and can identify the differences between

parents and children that cause frustration and misunderstanding. "

In his book, Learning All the Time, Holt, a noted educator and

home school advocate, echoes that belief. " Children have their own styles of

learning, every one unique, " he writes. " They also have their own timetables,

according to which they are ready to do things, speeds at which they want to do

them, and time they want to wait before doing a new thing. When we try to

direct, or interfere with, or change these learning styles and timetables, we

almost always slow or stop them. "

Understanding your child's learning style and preferences is

certainly an ongoing process, one that evolves with each new skill and stage of

development. For children that enjoy visual challenges offer puzzles, hidden

picture books and a selection of art materials. Provide opportunities for

sorting objects by color, shape and size. What about binoculars or a magnifying

glass for some scientific studies? Maybe you can devise your own simple board

game together or play a matching game, like Concentration. Clear your schedule

and be on the lookout for fun!

Related Articles:

Kids Who Learn by Doing

Is Your Preschooler Gifted?

Attention Issues and School: A Mom's View

Does Homeschooling Make the Grade?