In one of my other parenting articles that you may come across, I mentioned the importance of understanding and communicating with your children in their communication mode in order to get your children to listen.
Another important area that communication modes can come in handy is the ability to increase your children’s success in learning.
What is a communication mode? Simply put we all learn, express love and communicate through different communication modes or combinations of modes, often called communication channels.
There are four main communication modes called Visual, Auditory, Digital and Kinesthetic.
As a parent if you tap into your child’s unique learning style through their
communication mode you can both teach your children in their communication mode as well as teach your children about their own learning style so when they are on their own or in school they can use the communication style technique that benefit them the most in regards to learning.
So the following is a brief overview of the four communication modes as well as examples of how people learn through their communication modes. You can be primarily one mode or a mixture of up to all four:
Visual people communicate by seeing and doing. They like activities and they like gifts.
They notice people, places and things with just the slightest glance. They feel and share love by doing things with or for other people. They take things at face value and do not look deeper into things. They learn by seeing and doing.
For a Visual child to learn, visual aides are good such as pictures, writing on a
chalkboard or whiteboard, watching interactions or role plays of others and/or participating in role-plays. Reading as well as writing out what they are learning about is also powerful learning tools for Visuals.
A Visual child can learn through watching, just like I explained in my last article about when my Visual, Kinesthetic child Cameron wasn’t listening when I was telling him to pick up his toys. Once I understood what his communication modes were, I showed him what I wanted by putting his toys away, he watched and not only did he understood what I was communicating but he was learning about what to do as well.
Auditory people communicate through talking. They have the natural gift of the gab and are designed to be able to talk for long periods of time. They enjoy talking and listening to other people talk. They feel loved when they are talked to, and like to hear the words I love you. They learn by hearing.
For an Auditory Child, teaching verbally, having the child being taught to repeat back verbally what they have learned, have music playing while they are being taught, learning through song with the information in the song or actually making up songs with the answers to what they are learning it are all excellent learning tools. Auditory children can also use sound associations, for example a certain sound is associated to what they are learning.
My son Cameron is not Auditory, so he would not learn if I was teaching him something verbally without any visual cues, whereas my oldest son Joey, who is Auditory and Digital, would not need the Visual cues, he could just listen to what I say or repeat back what I am saying or teaching himself.
Digital people communicate through connection and understanding. They find the deeper meaning in everything they think, see and do. Understanding is very important to them.
They feel loved when they share connections with others and are understood. They learn by understanding.
Digital Children can learn by explaining the “what”, “when”, “how” and “why” of what is being taught as well as going step by step in a process that gets started at the beginning and doesn’t jump around but goes in order. Making connections and explaining so they understand the purpose, concept and origin of the topic they are learning about is also important for a Digital child. Reading is also perfect for Digitals, as well as writing.
If I was teaching my son Joey, who is Digital how to load our dishwasher for example, I just wouldn’t be able to show him and leave him there. I would have to explain where and why each dish, cup and utensil would go where they go in a step by step process and by explaining why it’s necessary to set the dishwasher up that way so he will understand, he will easily learn to do it without hesitation or confusion.
Kinesthetic people communicate through their bodies. They move, feel and express through their bodies. Kinesthetics love to touch, feel, physical activities and hugging. They feel loved when they are touched. They learn through touch and through experience.
Kinesthetic Children learn through acting out role plays, walking through or actually doing what they are learning as well as associating or learning things through touch.
(Like the Leap Frog learning toys that are interactive by touching what they are learning about on top of visual and auditory cues.)
It is possible to learn and memorize by associating touch or certain textures to them for a Kinesthetic. This may sound odd or hard to picture, but a Kinesthetic person would understand. Writing something out may also work for a Kinesthetic child.
With my son Cameron, who is Kinesthetic as well as Visual, he learned how to put his toys away not just by watching me, but by touching, picking up the toys and walking through the activity of putting the toys away in order to learn how to put his toys away.
Each child is unique, but when they understand what their own communication mode is and discover for themselves what communication techniques work best for them when they are learning, they can take these powerful ways of learning with them and continue using them as successful and confident adults.
Tanis Nicole Wright
