Experts have identified three major types of learning styles. These are Kinaesthetic, Visual and Auditory. Children often show a balance of all three, but usually, there’s one particular strength to be seen. This post will discuss the 3 types of learning styles and how to identify your child’s learning style so that you can support their education.

Disclaimer: This is a contributed post that I have added to. I have been compensated for my time.

If you can identify your child’s learning style, it can really help them thrive because you’ll have a good understanding of how to help them pick up and retain information more effectively. A good school will also keep a watchful eye out for learning styles. This junior school in the Cotswolds ensures that all children are treated as individuals in the classroom.

The Three Types of Learning Styles

There are different types of learners. People learn in different ways, and to some, it is not just about reading and understanding. You may recognise your child immediately – or you may not. If you don’t, then there’s a good chance that your child has a decent balance of all three learning styles.

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Kinaesthetic Learners

These are the physical children. They tend to enjoy dance, sports, climbing and other challenging physical activities. They might use lots of hand gestures or join in with music physically. They may also touch everything! This can be a challenge for parents, and these children are very energetic.

Kinaesthetic learners learn from their physical senses. They are more likely to learn through hands-on experience than through listening or reading. Kinaesthetic learners are visual, tactile and auditory learners who take in information best when they see it, touch it and hear it.

Here are some good signs that you have a Kinaesthetic learner:

The problem with kinaesthetic learners is that they can tend to have trouble with memorizing information (such as remembering vocabulary words) because they don’t remember how these words sound like, what they look like and how they feel in their mouths. These students may have difficulty understanding a lecture or text as it may not be as engaging for them to learn by just listening or reading the material.

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Auditory Learners

These children love sound. They react to music from an early age and adore playing instruments and making noise with their toys. They love to talk! And they love to listen.

These learners learn best when they can listen to recordings and see the material in front of them. They learn best when they can see examples of how words are spelt, hear different voices pronounce each word, and hear how different inflections can change the meaning of a sentence.

Here are some of the signs your child is an Auditory Learner:

  • They have a love of music
  • They sing a lot
  • These children talk well and have a good vocabulary
  • They enjoy listening to the radio

Auditory Learners can be a challenge for teachers to teach because of the instructional methods they need. Auditory learners often find themselves frustrated in a classroom setting, which is why they do best in classes that allow them to speak up and share their ideas.

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Visual Learners

These children love to look at the world around them. They love art and textiles, textures and colour. You may notice that even as babies, these characteristics are visible as they respond well to toys with print, to mobiles with plenty of colours and even to soft furnishings.

Visual learners are people who learn better when they can see the information. Visual learners should take in the information through visuals that they can process more efficiently. For example, charts, graphs, or other images that show things visually are easier for visual learners to understand. This is because pictures speak a thousand words.

Signs that your child is a visual learner:

  • They have a strong imagination
  • They display a keen interest in art and drawing or making things
  • These children have a good memory for faces and places
  • They display a keen interest in nature

Teachers have found it difficult to teach these students because not all teachers are artistic or creative enough to provide visual support for their lectures.

Did you manage to identify your child’s learning style?

Some teachers ask the parents to fill out a learning style survey with questions about their child’s attention span, how they learn best and what topics they are interested in. This information is then used to decide on an approach for teaching. For us parents, it is usually possible to identify your child’s learning styles by observing their behaviour in different learning environments.

The bottom line is that it’s imperative for parents and teachers to find out what each child’s learning style is to optimize their experience in the classroom or home environment. If you can identify your child’s learning style, it can go a long way to understanding the best way to serve them in their education.