Does your child excel in sports? Does he prefer moving around instead of sitting still? Does he like doing science experiments and reading adventure? Does he enjoy theater because it gives him the chance to play different roles? Does he dabble in martial arts and dance? If so, then he’s a tactile learner.
Tactile learners learn best by doing. They love working with their hands because they get to touch what they’re doing. Movement in all its forms brings out the best in them.
Tactile learners make great craftsmen, athletes, scientists, artists, dancers, and mechanics. That’s the good news. The bad news is their attention suffers when it comes to stationary activities like reading or listening.
How do you help your young tactile learner? Let us count the ways:
- Encourage him to take short breaks of 15 to 25 minutes while studying. Let him walk around, take a light snack, drink water, and listen to music to maximize his learning skills.
- A tactile learner absorbs things best if he tackles them bit by bit. Teach him to study say, a long chapter in a book, in sections. He can start with the first three to five pages today, tackle the next parts tomorrow, and so on.
- Provide ample space for your young tactile learner to move around. He may not be comfortable just sitting behind the desk. Have other kinds of furniture like a lounging sofa handy so he can go there the minute he feels restless. Cushions scattered around will also help him change positions while studying.
- A tactile learner needs focus. Catch–and keep his attention by using his favorite color as backdrop for his study desk. This technique is called color grounding.
- Use flashcards, illustration boards, audio-video presentations, puzzles, board games, and other learning aids.
- The tactile learner absorbs things most by doing them. Train him to take down notes, make mind maps, draw charts, and take photos.
- Keep crayons, modeling clay, needle and thread, puzzles, calculators, workbooks, mobiles, and other things that your tactile learner can touch handy.
- Encourage him to make collages, posters, and scrapbooks.
- Let him answer workbooks and solve puzzles.
- Play educational games like Scrabble and Rubik’s Cube.
- Encourage him to have a collection, of stamps, coins, or anything he can complete on his own.
- Teach him the value of role playing as a learning tool. You can start the ball rolling by say, playing the role of the toothbrush while he portrays the teeth. This can be a jumping board for lessons on oral hygiene.
- Enroll him in martial arts and dance lessons.