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Picture

ADD? Distracted? Daydreamer?
Or The Visual Child

(Series: Understanding Your Child's Communication/Modality/Learning Style)
​
Digital-Kinesthetic-Visual-Auditory


Learning Style Assessments
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Available Through Coaching

​Through life coaching, we learn to identify communication styles or "modality" in adults and children. Modality is defined as: "A particular mode in which something exists or is experienced or expressed." Our modality, communication or learning style, is how we operate, communicate and learn in life. It is inherent, and just part of who we are. A child's primary modality is central to how they experience and interact with the world, and can be indicative of their greatest strengths. Identifying and learning how to communicate and teach our children through their strongest modality, is the best way to help them reach their full potential.

There are four communication styles or modalities, they are: Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, & Digital. We all have all four of them, but the two we assess highest in are usually indicative of how we move about and operate in life.

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​The Visual (Spatial) Child
​
​About 40% of the population rate highest in the Visual modality. Visual learners, also called Visual-Spatial learners, are the big picture thinkers of this world. The term Visual-Spatial was created by Linda Silverman, PhD. She noticed that there was a specific group of students who scored very high on the visual and spatial parts of an IQ test, but scored low on auditory or sequential tasks. She also noticed that the Visual-Spatial learners had certain things in common, they thought primarily in pictures, they were good with maps, graphs, charts and timelines, needed to see words in order to spell them, could solve problems intuitively, had uneven subject grades, were often late-bloomers, had issues with perfectionism, were talented in the arts, creating, inventing, building, and technology, had vivid imaginations, and did well with abstract concepts and real world creative problem solving solutions.

Visual children's minds work like view masters or movie cameras, they visually memorize things by seeing pictures in their mind, and are happiest when you draw a picture for them, even better if you color it in. They turn words into images. They paint pictures with their words and their hands. They like working with visual prompts; graphs, charts, maps and diagrams. They like color and will notice what someone wears, their appearance and any irregularities. They learn to spell by seeing the word instead of spelling it phonetically. They sometimes talk quickly. They might be better with faces than with names. They are good at establishing eye contact, and may make judgements based off of appearance. Visual-Spatial learners understand things quickly when they can picture it in their minds, but they can get distracted or start daydreaming while listening to lectures or verbal instruction. They need more time to say what they are thinking, since they must first visualize it in their minds, and can loose their thought if interrupted. Organizational skills are usually not a natural strength, cleaning their rooms, remembering their homework, being able to get it done and turned in on time, may at times seem an impossible task for the Visual child. They can find it overwhelming to see clutter, but will often get overwhelmed with cleaning their rooms. They may need more time for cleaning or organizing, or need to break up the task into multiple parts or steps. They do often enjoy their own form of visual organization, decorating or color coding their rooms, learning areas and materials. Color coding helps them to quickly see like items; home projects, school subjects, and other supplies and materials. Organizing of their own schedules and time can also be an issue for Visual-Spatial learners. A self-timer can help them to keep to a schedule, and over time can improve their ability to "feel" the passing of time.

Visual-Spatial learners learn "whole to part," and can have trouble remembering step by step or verbal instruction. Since the mode of teaching in the majority of schools, curriculum, and textbooks is auditory or sequential, they can struggle in school. To be motivated to learn and have the ability to retain the information - they need to know the reason for learning or have it connected to an interest or something they already know. This isn't a motivational or behavioral issue, it is just the way their mind works - and is part of the whole to part or big picture thinking. They have been called "aha" learners. While they struggle to follow step by step instruction, they will often look disinterested or distracted, until they have their "aha" moment, when what you are saying connects to something they already know or are interested in. In Math, Visual children are the ones who won't show their work, but will come up with the right answer. They don't benefit from timed tests, drills or repetition. Once a concept is learned, the Visual-Spatial learner can move on, the learning is permanent. Although they often struggle with math computation, they are good with patterns and math reasoning, and often come up with their own way of figuring out a problem. They can be very sensitive to teacher's moods, or be intuitive, and may "feel" when a teacher is frustrated with them or doesn't like them. This, along with poor organizational skills, difficulty following verbal or step by step instruction, being misunderstood or judged for being distracted or lacking in motivation, receiving low grades for not showing their work, and more, unfortunately, many times leads to disinterest in school, resentment toward teachers, and feelings of isolation and low self-esteem.

​If we only focus on the "weaknesses" of the Visual-Spatial learner and their struggle to learn through Auditory-Sequential methods, both their love of learning and self esteem may be affected. To make sure this doesn't happen, we need to instead focus on and support their strengths, of which there are many, and use these to teach and motivate them.

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​To Engage A Visual Child Try Using:
​
  • ​Art
  • Painting
  • Drawing
  • Collages
  • Writing
  • ​Posters
  • ​Decorating
  • ​Coloring Books
  • Colorful Pictures
  • Magazines Cuttings
  • ​Computer Graphics
  • ​Board Games
  • Matching Games
  • ​Puzzles
  • Flashcards
  • Colorful or Picture Filled Worksheets
  • Reading, Picture Books, Comic Books
  • Movies, Videos, Video Games, Slide Shows, Cartoons​
  • Maps, Graphs, Charts, Timelines, Diagrams
  • Child-Led or Interest-Based Learning
  • Entrepreneurship & Volunteering
​
For more homeschooling/teaching strategies see: STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING VISUAL LEARNERS*
(*This section of the linked article is about 1/3 of the way down the page.) OR
​The introductory video: Visual Learning Style Strategies & Activities
​Partial Bullet List: www.ronitbaras.com

Visual-Spatial Learners
​

"W
e need individuals with highly developed visual-spatial abilities
for advancement in the arts, technology and business.
These are the creative leaders of society.
We need to protect their differences in childhood
and enable them to develop their unique talents
In supportive environments at home and at school."


Silverman, L.K., & Freed, J.N. (1991). ​

​When you know a child's communication and learning style, or modality in life, it makes it much easier to work with them. With this newfound knowledge, things that were seen as problems before, are now understood as just being part of who your child is. When working with Visual children, try making adjustments to your parenting or teaching routine that support the child's need for:
​
  • Seeing the big picture, whole to part instruction, or the reason for learning
  • Time to process information, explain their thoughts, or make a point
  • Connecting new concepts to interests, real life scenarios, or things they already know
  • Organizing their things in a way that makes sense to them
  • Customizing, making colorful or esthetically pleasing, their learning materials and areas
  • Visual aids along with verbal instruction

Small adjustments in your parenting or teaching style that take into consideration the special needs of Visual-Spatial learners, can lead to big improvements in the child's outlook and well being, soon resulting in a child who is engaged, excited and happy about life and learning.

Hugs & Happy Parenting!

Julie L Gibson-Vasquez
The Proactive Parenting Coach
​Silverman, L.K., & Freed, J.N. (1991). The Visual Spatial Learner. Davis Dyslexia Association International, www.dyslexia.com ​​

Book an appointment with Julie Gibson-Vasquez using Setmore


​More From This Series:
​The Digital Child, ​The Kinesthetic Child, ​The Auditory Child
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  • About
    • About Us
    • Our Personal Story Articles >
      • About Our Story
      • Our Children's Gifts Can Show Themselves In Unpredictable Ways
      • Asynchrony, Trust & The Gifted Child
      • Reflecting On Our Jouney
      • My Apology To My Daughter
      • You're Rebecca - Hirsch - Spielberg!
      • In The Beginning...My Original Blog Posts 2012-2015
    • Coaching Request
    • Our Center In Idyllwild
  • Parenting Articles
    • About Proactive Parenting
    • Understanding Our Differences
    • Do I Have A Bad Kid?
    • What Is Gifted?
    • Identifying The Creatively Gifted Child
    • The Highly Creative Child
    • Identifying Your Child's Learning Style >
      • The Digital Child
      • The Kinesthetic Child
      • The Visual Child
      • The Auditory Child
    • The Divergent Thinking Child
    • The HIghly Sensitive Child
    • Supporting Children’s Intense Emotions
    • Supporting Imagination & Creativity In Gifted Children
    • Lack Of Motivation In Highly Creative Kids
    • The Importance Of Imaginative Play & Mental Emotional Freedom
    • Understanding Lack Of Compassion In Gifted Children
    • The Divergent Thinking Child
    • Homeschooling Our "Out Of The Box" Kids
    • ODD, ADHD or Anxiety?
    • What Is Quality Time To Our Children?
    • Using Questions To Motivate Kids >
      • Questions To Promote Compliance & Accountability
  • Tutoring & Classes
    • Growth-Mindset Study Skills Tutoring
    • Creative Kids Life & Study Skills Tutoring
    • Homeschool Enrichment Classes
    • Homeschool Learning Style Assessment
    • Homeschool Parent Coaching
  • Emotional Healing Oils
  • Emotional Coaching Tools & Toys
  • Life & Love (Relationship) Articles
    • About Life & Love
    • Understanding Our Differences
    • Communication, Respect & Boundaries
    • Personal Boundaries
    • Does Positive Thinking Work?
    • We Must Feel To Heal
    • Do You Have Balance In Your Life?
    • Keep Your Ship Water Tight
    • How To Unfollow People In Real Life
  • Coaching & Mentoring Programs
    • 6-Session Program: Parenting Gifted Children
    • 6-Session Program: Gifted Children 101
    • 6-Session Program: Life Coaching 101
    • 6-Session Program: Live The Dream - Creative Tween/Teen Mentoring
  • More On Gifted Children
  • Proactive Parenting FB Blog
  • Coaching Adult Assessments Only
  • Booklet's & eBooks - Anna Is Gifted
  • Abbey’s Pet Portraits
  • Understanding Differences In Gifted Children