BJU Press Blog

types of learning

How to Engage Your Kinesthetic Learner with Art

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teaching a kinesthetic learner with art
One of my daughters is a classic kinesthetic learner. She hops while practicing spelling words and taps her foot while doing math problems. She pretty much never stops moving.

Homeschooling a kinesthetic learner has been a bit of a challenge. For concepts to stick, she has to be physically involved in the learning process. BJU Press has been great for her because it incorporates a lot of hands-on, authentic learning. We use manipulatives to learn math concepts, and we do hands-on activities in science and heritage studies. But English and reading are a little more challenging. I’ve found that a great way to help my kinesthetic learner through these subjects is by incorporating one of her favorite activities—art.

Incorporating Art into Reading for Your Kinesthetic Learner

There are a lot of ways to integrate art into reading. Your child can draw story maps, make organizational charts, and illustrate scenes or vocabulary words. A few weeks ago, my daughter and I read a fictional selection in Reading 2 entitled “Owl Face,” which was about a girl who took care of a barn owl. After reading the story, my daughter created her own mixed-media illustration of the main character and the owl, clearly demonstrating her understanding of the text. During the “Look Again” lesson that covered the same selection, we watched a YouTube tutorial about how to draw owls, and we drew owls and wrote stories about them. That activity helped solidify a lot of what we had learned about owls, characters, and the sequencing of a story.

Incorporating Art into English for Your Kinesthetic Learner

There are also ways to blend English and art, especially during the writing process. I found out pretty early on that my daughter did a lot better organizing her thoughts when she drew pictures. So when she planned her personal narrative in English, I had her illustrate the different story details she wanted to write about, and then we put the pictures in order so she could refer to them as she wrote her first draft. That activity helped her organize her ideas and produce a coherent narrative.

I’m still learning about how to best teach my kinesthetic learner, but incorporating art has proven to be both motivational and effective. If you have other ideas for me, please share them in the comments below.

There’s More Than One Way to Learn

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Math 3D cubes

While teaching a Bible club lesson to a group of children at a local elementary school, I noticed that a boy named Ryan was having a rather difficult time. He didn’t participate in songs, and he didn’t seem to get much out of oral lessons with visual presentations. He was rarely able to answer questions during discussion time.

Eventually, I tried a new approach. I wrote down individual Bible verses with a brief explanation of each. I allowed Ryan to read and contemplate the content on his own in a quiet area. Later that day during discussion time, Ryan was one of the most active students. He knew the answer to nearly every question I asked.

We tend to assume that colorful visuals and over-the-top presentations are the best ways to deliver information (and often that is the case given the short attention span of many young children). But this isn’t true for every child. Ryan needed quiet, distraction-free study time to focus. He also needed to read the material for himself.

Not all children absorb content the same way. Some receive information better when it’s presented visually, while others learn best from hands-on activities. Some children need to read the material themselves, and others need to listen. Incompatibilities between teaching and learning styles can be frustrating for homeschool families.

Some parents mistakenly believe that they have somehow failed to be good teachers. Others get tired of paying for homeschool curriculums that promise success but fail to engage their child. Some parents even begin to question their child’s development and capabilities.

It wasn’t my fault or the fault of the other teachers that Ryan didn’t understand the Bible lessons. It also wasn’t that Ryan was slower to grasp the concepts than the other children were. The mismatch between learning style and instruction strategy simply made learning nearly impossible for him.

Understanding your child’s learning style can reduce these frustrations and make the learning process easier.

What is my child’s learning style?

There are three main types of learning.

  • Auditory learners
    These children like to listen to content rather than reading it. Verbally reciting information might be a preferred study method. Background noise such as music may be helpful to some, while it might be a distraction to others who work best in a quiet place.
  • Hands-on learners
    Children with this learning style learn by touching and engaging in hands-on activities. They might have a hard time sitting still while studying. Writing down information could be helpful.
  • Visual learners
    Visual learners understand information best by reading, viewing a demonstration, and looking at graphics. Children who learn this way might get impatient while listening to an explanation.

Finding out which learning style describes your child often requires a trial-and-error approach. A child who is a visual or hands-on learner can work through the same math problem on paper many times and have the concept explained in text or orally over and over but still not understand the material.

If your child is struggling with a concept, change tactics and try a different approach until you find one that works. For a child struggling with basic math concepts, try using beans or other small objects to demonstrate the concept visually. Let the child work out the problem with his hands. You might be surprised how quickly things begin to click.

Once I know how my child learns, what should I do?

Be creative. Find ways to shape a lesson toward the way your child learns best. Print off pictures of people, maps, and, places while reading about history, geography, and Bible if your child is a visual learner. Use projects, games, and crafts if your child prefers hands-on learning.

When selecting textbooks for your child, be sure to consider his or her specific needs. Some textbooks take an approach that would only appeal to one style of learning. Others offer a wider approach. A child who learns visually would have a harder time benefiting from an text-based curriculum with no pictures or graphics. A child who needs hands-on practice would struggle with only visual textbooks.

Some textbooks such as BJU Press elementary math are designed to appeal to all styles. Attractive pictures and illustrations help the visual learner while included manipulatives provide a hands-on experience. Extra practice sheets are there for those who need to read and work out the problems individually. Textbooks like these help take the guesswork out of teaching for individual learning styles.

The most important thing to remember is to stay positive and keep at it. A critical requirement of homeschooling for both parent and child is confidence. Don’t lose confidence in yourself, and don’t let your child lose confidence. You’ll get there. When things do go right, always remember to commend not only your child but yourself as well for a job well done. Homeschooling is a learning experience for both of you.