As a caregiver and a parent, recognizing these three learning styles (visual, auditory and kinesthetic) and using all three when working with your children will ensure everyone learns the same thing at the same time. Here are some suggestions to help you.

• Making a game out of a learning experience usually helps people to remember.
• Plan activities that show the lesson and include a corresponding hands-on activity.
• If you aren't sure of a child's learning style, ask his/her parents. By understanding each child's learning style you can focus your attention on those children who learn best at one part of the lesson (as you're reading a story), then focus on the children who learn best during another part of the lesson (like when you're painting pictures related to the activity).
• If parents aren't sure of their child's unique learning style, pay attention to which types of activities a child naturally select. For example, kinesthetic learners prefer to build and mold things, while visual learners prefer to draw or create. Auditory learners are drawn to music and read-along stories.
• By applying all three learning experiences to a lesson, you allow each child to learn by their dominant style while enhancing their less dominant senses. Sometimes it is a simple matter of three simple steps, telling it, showing it and touching it.

From Child Development Training, 101 Tips for Directorsby Silvana Clark, published byWarren Publishing House, Everett, Washington.