Smoothing the Way online

Many people call these learning styles, but we consider them learning modalities. According to Merriam-Webster's, modality is "one of the main avenues of sensation (as vision)"

VISUAL LEARNER
This is someone who learns and retains best material that they see. They like charts and graphs and can easily decipher the material contained in these. I am a strong visual learner and I find that if my children approach me with a question about schoolwork, if they try to read to me from their book I just can't understand a word they are saying! I have to take the book in my hands and read it myself.

AUDITORY LEARNER
This person learns by hearing. It is helpful, especially with a young child, for them to say things out loud -- i.e., recite math facts, spelling words, etc. Also, books on tape work well for this child.

KINESTHETIC/TACTILE LEARNER
Kinesthetic learners need to move and tactile learners need to touch, but these often go together. Most children under the age of 8 fall into this category. Manipulatives, puzzles, felt pieces, foam letters... these are all tools that will help this young learner.

Did anyone see the September 4th Peanuts? Is Sally a kinesthetic learner or what?! LOL I loved it! She is ranting about having to start school when she's "...never even seen a river..." or a mountain...or a king...or a capital city...or a border... Charlie Brown replies, "This may take more than one field trip to the zoo." You can probably do a google and see it archived somewhere on the web.

Thank you for the information on styles or modalities. Through simple testing, we found that our daughter was actually about even in the 3. Therefore, it worked for her to sit beside me on the sofa w/the book on her lap. She would read w/her eyes & follow with her finger while I read aloud, stopping often to discuss words or concepts. Are you familiar w/using a clear, plastic sheet over the words? Blue works the best for her to help her focus. If interested, just get a package of several colored plastic folders & try them out to see which works best. Blue is usually best for most.
Making flash cards which were studied & played games with in various ways worked best for her to learn definitions, facts, etc.
For Spanish and when she was first learning the basic words, I taped these cards all over the house. One of our guests inquired of the NO DIVING card beside the bathtub, "Is that a problem?" Hope someone finds this helpful. Be happy to share more upon request. May God bless you and your family.
Becky Rankin