Page 34 - North State Parent April 2020

A More Adventurous Approach to Education – Exploring Learning Styles to Enrich Your Child’s Life as Well as Your Own
Christina Katz loves to take a creative approach to learning and a learning approach to creativity. She can increase her productivity quite a bit by paying better attention to flexing her dominant learning styles.
34 North State Parent • Serving Upper California Since 1993
Visual
• Draw pictures, doodle or color.
• List both sides of an argument.
• Draw the shape of an idea or consult a chart or a graph.
• Use flashcards for memorizing.
• Make a lesson into a comic strip.
• Search for and read fun, visual blogs.
• Research topics on Pinterest with an eye out for colorful
infographics.
• Watch videos with a steady stream of images or drawings.
• Do something visual like playing a video game or flip
through a magazine as a break from learning.
Tactile
• Incorporate art projects into your assignments.
• Pull together a bunch of seemingly disparate parts into a
collage or sculpture.
• Build an argument the way you would build a log cabin.
• Create a 3D visual representation of lessons.
• Use flashcards for memorizing.
• Keep your hands and fingers moving while learning.
• Trace words or images to help you study.
• Watch video demonstrations for greater understanding.
• Work with clay, putty or dough when stuck or integrating
ideas.
• Take frequent breaks to stretch or move when sitting for
long periods.
• Build a model or bake some cookies as a break from learning.
Auditory
• Use music in the background while learning.
• Read work out loud into a recorder or to the dog.
• Listen to lectures or stories in audio format.
• Write down what you notice as you listen or after you listen.
• Listen to yourself read out loud.
• Listen to the opinions of others to help sharpen your point
of view.
• Enjoy discussion, dialogue and debating.
• Turn what you are learning into a rhyming poem or song
lyrics.
• Listen to some upbeat or moving music while taking a
break from learning.
Kinesthetics
• Physically act out ideas you are trying to understand. Play all the parts.
• Draw your ideas out on large sheets of paper or on a whiteboard.
• Memorize information while you are in motion.
• Use storyboarding techniques.
• Get outside and get your hands dirty to integrate thinking.
• Engage in pantomime or improvisation.
• Use your whole body for learning as with dance or theatre.
• Take frequent breaks to stretch or to move.
• Clear your mind by going for a walk or a run or by doing
chores.
Verbal
• Read up on topics of interest, highlighting any points to remember.
• Look up word definitions to spark ideas.
• Write out thoughts and rewrite thoughts to clarify what you
think.
• Talk through your thoughts with another person.
• Build an argument on an opinion you feel strongly about.
• Play with acronyms (make up a story using every letter in
one word as the first letter in a part of the story).
• Turn written words into spoken words and vice versa to
increase memorization.
• Play with verbal forms such as stories, poetry, articles, lists,
commercials, etc.
• Immerse yourself in reading as a break from learning.
Logical
• Notice patterns in whatever you are studying.
• Classify or categorize things.
• Break information out into small chunks.
• Use ‘if/then’ or ‘if/when’ statements.
• Set goals and track your progress.
• Make a to-do list.
• Use examples, stats and research.
• Pose a word problem and solve it.
• Use a spreadsheet to track progress.
• Appreciate timelines, diagrams and flowcharts.
• Tidy or organize things as a break from learning.
• Play word games like crossword puzzles or word search
puzzles.
• Keep a jigsaw puzzle going for relaxation.