Have you ever wondered what your dominant learning style is? Each of us has a preferred learning method, generally aligning with one of the four most common learning styles: visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. The names of these styles may prompt an intuitive understanding of which best fits your personality – and most likely, your initial assumption is correct! Exploring learning styles is fascinating for the insight it provides into our preferences as learners and critical for understanding why knowing about them is significant in the first place.
Most Common Learning Styles
Visual Learner
![](https://wordpress-938214-4066445.cloudwaysapps.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/visual-learner.jpg)
Learns well by watching something before trying it.
As a child, Elaine loved picture books. She didn’t care so much about the words as she did the illustrations. Before she could even read, she would study every detail of the pictures to create the story as she saw it. As she grew older, Elaine naturally gravitated towards infographics and watched videos when learning something new.
Visual learners prefer using images, pictures, colors, and maps to organize information and communicate with others. They can visualize information in their mind’s eye, remember details, and make connections.
Auditory Learner
![](https://wordpress-938214-4066445.cloudwaysapps.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/auditory-learner.jpg)
Learn best talking things through with others. Discussions, lectures and presentations.
John does best when listening. As a 5th grader, he’d doodle or put his head on his desk, eyes closed. He frequently gave the impression that he had no idea what was happening. Boy, was that wrong! His teacher discovered John was listening to every word. Despite appearing like his head was in the clouds, John was an avid listener and had a response every time his teacher called him.
Auditory learners learn best when information is heard or spoken. They benefit from lectures, group discussions, and other strategies that involve talking things through.
Reading/Writing Learner
![](https://wordpress-938214-4066445.cloudwaysapps.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/writing-learner.jpg)
Learn by reading and then writing the content down.
Emma has always had a passion for words. As a child, she could get lost in the pages of a book, and she felt connected to characters as if they were friends. She absorbed information through the written word. Her love for reading naturally translated into a love for writing, enabling her to express her thoughts, ideas, and knowledge effectively. Emma usually turned to books and articles as her preferred method for learning new information.
Reading/writing learners have a strong appreciation for words. They prefer to engage with information through text, often needing to read something to grasp the concept fully. They’re also likely to take extensive notes and write summaries to aid their learning.
Kinesthetic Learner
![](https://wordpress-938214-4066445.cloudwaysapps.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Kinesthetic-Learner.jpg)
Hands-on learning. Enjoy doing a task and group-based projects.
Since he was small, Leo was always on the move. He had difficulty sitting still, and he learned best when he could use his body. Whether it was through sports, building models, or simply moving around while thinking, Leo’s learning was intertwined with physical activity. Throughout school, Leo struggled to sit at a desk but thrived in environments where learning included hands-on activities and active participation.
Kinesthetic learners prefer to learn by doing and experiencing. They excel when they can learn through movement and touch. These learners benefit from hands-on activities, experiments, and any learning environment where they can manipulate objects to understand concepts better.
Now that you are familiar with the primary learning styles, you’re likely reflecting on your own learning journey, thinking, “Ohhh … that’s why I’ve always preferred [ABC]…”
Why It Matters
Understanding learning styles allows educators to present information in various ways so their students can best understand and apply it – which is especially important when first learning a concept.
Let me use Lily as an example. One sunny Tuesday, seven-year-old Lily came home from school with a math problem: “If there were 18 apples on the table and your mom used 5 apples to bake a pie, how many apples would be left?”
Lily thought about the problem. Then she gathered 18 small pebbles and laid them out on her table. She counted 5 pebbles, saying out loud, “These are the apples mom used for the pie.” She pushed them aside and then counted the remaining pebbles. Triumphantly, she announced, “The answer is 13, Mom! We have 13 apples left!”
Lily would eventually understand how to use the traditional algorithm to solve her problem (18-5 = 13). Yet if that had been the sole teaching method when she was first learning how to subtract, it’s easy to see how she could become frustrated and, worse, adopt an attitude of, “I can’t do math.”
Expose Children to Different Learning Styles
Learning is not a one-size-fits-all process – nor is it linear. Certainly, optimizing a child’s dominant learning style is important, especially when learning something new. However, limiting them to that one style does them a disservice. It is equally important to expose children to learning through a variety of learning styles. Using different approaches, we guide children out of their comfort zones and encourage them to explore different perspectives, thus enhancing their critical thinking.
James was a classic kinesthetic learner, especially in math. The ability to interact with manipulatives increased his number sense. Creating shapes and models, and experiencing the edges, angles, and surfaces, enabled a more profound understanding for him. This was James’ comfort zone, where he felt “good” at math.
However, his teacher used all sorts of approaches when teaching math. She taught traditional algorithms, she also introduced podcasts and diagrams. At first, James was overwhelmed. He couldn’t learn math by listening to a podcast! Fortunately, his teacher helped him connect these learning styles to his kinesthetic foundations. Over time, when listening to math concepts, James would draw, creating a two-dimensional representation to help him interpret the information.
When visuals were presented, he learned to imagine the texture and form of the shapes so he could solve problems. Helping James determine how to connect different types of learning to the style he was most comfortable with allowed him to be successful in ways he didn’t think he could be.
Understanding learning styles enables educators to play to individual learning preferences. It also enriches the overall educational experience by fostering adaptability, critical thinking, and resilience in students, thus paving the way for growth and lifelong learning.
By Mary Ostrowski