Developing kindergarten readiness includes supporting different ways to learn. Even now, are some things easier for you to learn than others? Brains have different ways to learn, a sort of learning personality. These preferences and individual strengths in the way we learn are called learning styles. Generally, there are 3 basic learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic.
While all children are hands-on, kinesthetic learners like to move as they learn. These children are doers, often wiggling or tapping at the same time. As they talk, their hands and the rest of their bodies may be “talking”, too. They like to touch and feel and move their bodies. These children like to take things apart and put them back together, smoosh play dough and move their bodies. Often, these are the kids that like to go faster and higher in the swings and especially enjoy places like community gyms and pools.
Support for kinesthetic learners needs to be two fold, that is providing ways to move, touch, and do, and encouraging different ways to learn. Songs that have actions will be more appealing, as well as books that have textures in addition to words and pictures. Puppets are a toy that combines hands-on and talking. Exploring different ways to learn promotes kindergarten readiness and increases brain connections. Do you think your child has a kinesthetic learning style?