Study Strategies for the Tactile Learner

Effective ways to study that cater to your child’s learning style.

Editor’s Note: This article is the final part of a series that offers specific study strategies that align with each of the of the learning styles.

The brain typically gravitates towards one of the following learning styles listed below.

Visual Learner: Learn by reading or seeing images.

Auditory Learner: Learn by listening or speaking out loud.

Tactile Learner: Learn by touching and doing, whether it be a physical activity or simulating an experience so as to create a personal connection. 

This post focuses on active study strategies for the Tactile Learner.

Study Strategies for the Tactile Learner

Following are tools to help a child that has a tactile learning style.

Get Physical

• Create a repeated motion or gesture for each vocabulary word that associates with the meaning.
• Pace, walk, bounce a ball or even chew gum while reviewing flashcards out loud.

Make it Personal

• Associate a feeling or a person that you know to each definition.
• Think of a real-life example for the material you are learning.
• The more dramatic or humorous the personal connection, the easier it will be to remember.

Act it out

“Act out” the definitions of the vocabulary words.

Role play with a friend a parent. Some questions to consider:

• Who would use this particular vocabulary word? How old are they?
• How would the character use their voice and their body to say this word?
• What’s the setting? What time of year is it?

Be the Teacher

• Teach the information to a friend or family member.
• Actively engage in the material: speak out loud with a dramatic voice, use your hands, and write on a whiteboard to present the concepts. 

Use Memory Games

• Use mnemonic devices like rhymes, create acronyms or write lyrics to a familiar melody.

Expand your Child’s Learning Style

We may not always have a teacher that presents information in a way that works with our specific learning style so it’s important to stretch our brain by practicing study strategies that fall outside our comfort zone. So, the next time you ask your child to perform a task, experiment with presenting the information in one of the three learning styles that your child typically does not use. This is a great summer exercise so that your child feels confident for the beginning of the school year.