Kinaesthetic Learning Style Study Tips
Kinaesthetic learners (sometimes spelt Kinesthetic) are those individuals who have an intimate feel for the world around them. These learners use their sense of touch as the primary means of interacting with their environment. They won’t necessarily remember the specifics of a conversation, or who they had it with, but they’ll likely remember where they were when they had it, and maybe even what the weather was like too. Kinaesthetic learners are likely to relish the more practical subjects at school like physical education and design and technology, but may find the conventional classroom environment unstimulating and boring.
Kinaesthetic learners remember what they do, and store information through action. Their intimate feel for the world means they tend to thrive in more hands-on professions like cooking and carpentry, and they often make great athletes!
Kinaesthetic Learning Style Definition
The most obvious sign of a kinaesthetic learner is simply a need to learn by trial and error. Forget instructional videos or manuals, they just want to be thrown into a task and figure it out as they go.
Kinaesthetic Learning Methods
The best learning strategies for kinaesthetic learning style are those that engage them physically in some way, including:
- Use a stress toy or a fidget spinner. These kinds of toys may be seen by some as nothing but a distraction, but for a kinaesthetic learner they are a fantastic way to bring the hands into play while engaging in other tasks like making or reading notes.
- Create physical, hands-on activities and games. Get creative! Grab the costume box and do a Shakespearean role play, or set up an at-home supermarket to practice budgets and working out change. Anything hands-on will have a lasting impact on these learners.
- Try note taking on different platforms or devices. Recent technological innovations like the iPad are perfect for the tactile learner. Even the subtle difference between typing on a laptop and drawing using a touch pen can make a world of difference.
- Carefully curate a suitable study environment. As discussed, kinaesthetic learners are intimately aware of their surroundings. Too hot, too cold, too bright, too dark – if their study space is even slightly out of balance it can be hugely distracting. Creating a comfortable environment is critical.
Tutors for Kinasesthetic Learning Styles
Finding a tutor that can help your kinaesthetic learner is especially important. They often show fidgeting behaviours, such as tapping their feet or fingers, or chewing and playing with pens and pencils. They find it very difficult to sit still, and so will stretch often in class.
The teacher doesn’t see the student’s learning language being acted out – they simply see a student who is refusing to pay attention to the content.
This puts a kinaesthetic learner in a vicious loop: they fail to fully take in the content due to their distraction, but their distraction causes their teacher to feel negatively about them, which makes the student feel ostracised in class, which discourages them from learning and moves them to continue to be distracted.
Over the years, A Team Tuition has seen thousands of students facing this very problem. They are frustrated, yet shrug it off, pretending as if they don’t care about school. They simply believe that they are dumb, and will never achieve anything academically.
Instead, find your child the right tutor who can help them develop the right strategies to make the most of their learning style