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The kinesthetic learners characteristics, tips to help them study in a better manner and useful information for teachers about how to teach kinesthetic learners is presented in short, in the following article.
The kinesthetic learners who are also known as tactile learners grasp things in a better manner by actually doing them. Performing a physical activity associated with learning, rather than mere reading/listening helps the kinesthetic learners to understand things quickly. Instead of premeditating or thinking about a particular activity in advance, kinesthetic learners resort to trying out things and understand them in the due process. Kinesthetic learners form 15% of the total population of the world. Characteristics of kinesthetic learners are presented in the following paragraph.
Characteristics of Kinesthetic Learners
The kinesthetic learners characteristics given below should be useful in understanding about their behavioral patterns and needs. Teachers, parents and kinesthetic learners themselves can make most of the information presented below. The information can also help in understanding more about the kinesthetic learners activities.
- The kinesthetic learners, owing to their restless disposition, are deemed as hyperactive in childhood. Read more on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
- They have a habit of tapping feet, moving their legs, wiggling, etc.
- The energy or probably urge of making movements continuously should help kinesthetic learners to become good athletes, dancers, actors, etc.
- It is observed that kinesthetic learners are good at sculpting, repairing stuff, painting, woodworking and many things which requires working with tools.
- The hand-eye coordination of tactile learners is quite sharp; a strong sense of timing is one of their special characteristics.
- Curiosity and interest in exploring their surroundings are amongst the important features of kinesthetic learners’ personality. In the childhood, kinethetic learners are inclined towards craft works like making paper airplanes and many such things.
- These people can’t help but take frequent breaks while reading. The tactile learners have a habit of lying down while studying.
- The kinesthetic learners are inclined towards touching people while they speak with them.
Having a coach for these students can be really helpful. The coach not only teaches them stuff, but also acts as a support system in difficult times. Coaches help students in setting appropriate goals, taking into account their specific needs. In short, the coach helps such students to stay on track.
How to Teach Kinesthetic Learners
The teaching process and methods for kinesthetic learners should include activities which provide them with hands-on experience. The following teaching methods can be useful.
- The kinesthetic learners should be allowed to draw, paint, sculpt and do many such things which help channelize their energy.
- Kinesthetic learners have good observations skills which help them in seeing a particular thing and trying it out. Teaching efforts for such students need to be taken in this direction.
- For children who have just started learning alphabets, the use of magnetic letters or letter tiles is recommended. Board games, spelling games and other such interesting activities need to be incorporated in the teaching process.
- For teaching numbers and related concepts, one should make use of monkey bars. Using such tools gives them a feel of exploring things. Tapping/clapping out the letter and numbers that are taught should help in memorizing them quite easily.
- Kinesthetic learners should be encouraged to write on a regular basis. This activity involves movements and it also helps in repeating things being taught. Learning process of these students is greatly benefited from this activity.
- Engaging these students in laboratory work is necessary, because it provides them with hands-on experience of concepts being learned during classroom sessions.
Kinesthetic Learners Tips
The following study tips for kinesthetic learners should prove to be useful.
- The knowledge of past experiences/learning is used by kinesthetic learners for the trial and error activities they undertake. These type of learners need to experiment constantly with what they are doing. It helps minimize the mistakes of past.
- The tools like flow charts, maps and such visual things can help kinesthetic learners in grasping the concepts quickly. However, it would be important to note that the process of creating such graphs, flow charts and drawings is useful and not the later part of studying them.
- Online learning is better suited for kinesthetic learners than others. Of course they have to do a lot of reading while studying online. However, the interactive tools available online should encourage them to ‘go’ (proactively) for the learning activities, rather than sit back and absorb things that are taught in classrooms.
The facts about kinesthetic learners presented in the article should help in knowing about them from various angles. Behavioral patterns of kinesthetic learners and the capabilities they possess are understood with the information given above.
By Shashank Nakate
Published: 5/28/2010
Source:Â http://www.buzzle.com/articles/kinesthetic-learners.html