1. How Kids Learn: Teaching &
Learning Presenter: Lindsay Foster
2. “BY THREE METHODS WE MAY
LEARN WISDOM: FIRST, BY
REFLECTION, WHICH IS
NOBLEST; SECOND, BY
IMITATION, WHICH IS EASIEST;
AND THIRD BY EXPERIENCE,
WHICH IS THE BITTEREST.”
~ Confucius
4. • Learn through hearing…
Auditory •interviewing, debating
•Learn best through verbal •participating on a panel
lectures, discussions, talking •giving oral reports
things through and listening to
what others have to say •participating in oral discussions of
•Interpret the underlying written material
meanings of speech through
listening to tone of voice, pitch,
speed and other nuances
•Give little meaning to written
information until it is heard
•Often benefit from reading text
aloud and using a tape recorder
or podcast
5. • Learn through seeing…
Visual •computer graphics
•Need to see the teacher's body •maps, graphs, charts
language and facial expression •cartoons
•Tend to prefer sitting at the front
•posters
of the classroom to avoid visual
obstructions •diagrams
•May think in pictures and learn •graphic organizers
best from visual displays •text with a lot of pictures
including: diagrams, illustrated
text books, overhead
transparencies, videos, flipcharts
and hand-outs
•Often prefer to take detailed
notes to absorb the information
6. • Learn by doing or
Tactile/Kinesthetic touching…
•Learns best through a hands-on •drawing
approach, actively exploring the •playing board games
physical world around them
•making dioramas
•May find it hard to sit still for
long periods
•making models
•May become distracted by their •following instructions to make
need for activity and exploration something
•playing games that involve their
whole body
•movement activities
•making models
•following instructions to make
something
•setting up experiments
7. Activity
LEARNING STYLE GAME
•Break into small groups of three to five individuals.
•Fill in the blank to the questions on the index cards thinking about
Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic learners.
•Be prepared to share your answers with the group as a whole.
•Remember, there are NO wrong answers, but try to generate an
answer for each learning style.
•You have approximately 5 minutes to complete your work.
8. The Squiggle Game
• How would a ~ learner learn to swim?
• What kind of car does a ~ learner drive?
• How does a ~ learner listen to music?
• What type of music does a ~ learner like?
• How does a ~ learner change a tire?
• How does a ~ learner sit through a meeting?
• What position in a patrol would a ~ learner do
best?
• What position in a patrol would a ~ learner do
worst?
11. Verbal-Linguistic
• Ability to perceive the visual.
• These learners tend to think in pictures and
need to create vivid mental images to retain
information.
• Their skills include: puzzle building, reading,
writing, understanding charts and graphs, a
good sense of direction, sketching, painting,
creating visual metaphors and analogies
(perhaps through the visual arts), manipulating
images, constructing, fixing, designing
practical objects, interpreting visual images.
12. Visual-Spatial
Related Scouting Merit Badges or
Skills:
Architecture
Art
Geocaching
Graphic Arts
Home Repairs
Landscape Architecture
Metalwork
Orienteering
Textiles
Woodwork
13. Verbal-Linguistic
• Ability to use words and language.
• These learners have highly developed
auditory skills and are generally elegant
speakers. They think in words rather than
pictures.
• Their skills include listening, speaking,
writing, story telling, explaining, teaching,
using humor, understanding the syntax
and meaning of words, remembering
information, convincing someone of their
point of view, analyzing language usage.
14. Verbal-Linguistic
Related Scouting Merit Badges or
Skills:
Communication
Genealogy
Public Speaking
Reading
Scholarship
Boys’ Life joke submissions
Skit writer
Campfire emcee
Jamboree On the Air
15. Logical-Mathematical
• Ability to use reason, logic and numbers.
• These learners think conceptually in logical and
numerical patterns making connections between pieces
of information. Always curious about the world around
them, these learner ask lots of questions and like to do
experiments.
• Their skills include problem solving, classifying and
categorizing information, working with abstract concepts
to figure out the relationship of each to the other,
handling long chains of reason to make local
progressions, doing controlled experiments, questioning
and wondering about natural events, performing complex
mathematical calculations, working with geometric
shapes
17. Bodily-Kinestheic
• Ability to control body movements and handle
objects skillfully.
• These learners express themselves through
movement. They have a good sense of balance
and eye-hand co-ordination. (e.g. ball play,
balancing beams). Through interacting with the
space around them, they are able to remember and
process information.
• Their skills include dancing, physical co-
ordination, sports, hands on experimentation,
using body language, crafts, acting, miming, using
their hands to create or build, expressing
emotions through the body
18. Bodily-Kinesthetic
Related Scouting Merit Badges or
Skills:
Archery
Athletics
Backpacking
Climbing
Cycling
Hiking
Lifeguarding
Personal Fitness
Rifle Shooting
Scuba Diving
Skating
19. Musical-Rhythmic
• Ability to produce and appreciate music.
• These musically inclined learners think in sounds,
rhythms and patterns. They immediately respond
to music either appreciating or criticizing what
they hear. Many of these learners are extremely
sensitive to environmental sounds (e.g. crickets,
bells, dripping taps).
• Their skills include singing, whistling, playing
musical instruments, recognizing tonal patterns,
composing music, remembering melodies,
understanding the structure and rhythm of music
21. Interpersonal
• Ability to relate and understand others.
• These learners try to see things from other people's point of
view in order to understand how they think and feel. They often
have an uncanny ability to sense feelings, intentions and
motivations. They are great organizers, although they
sometimes resort to manipulation. Generally they try to
maintain peace in group settings and encourage cooperation.
They use both verbal (e.g. speaking) and non-verbal language
(e.g. eye contact, body language) to open communication
channels with others.
• Their skills include seeing things from other perspectives
(dual-perspective), listening, using empathy, understanding
other people's moods and feelings, counseling, co-operating
with groups, noticing people's moods, motivations and
intentions, communicating both verbally and non-verbally,
building trust, peaceful conflict resolution, establishing
positive relations with other people.
22. Interpersonal
Related Scouting Merit Badges or
Skills:
American Business
American Cultures
Citizenship in the Community
Citizenship in the Nation
Citizenship in the World
Communication
Entrepreneurship
Salesmanship
23. Intrapersonal
• Ability to self-reflect and be aware of one's
inner state of being.
• These learners try to understand their inner
feelings, dreams, relationships with others,
and strengths and weaknesses.
• Their skills include recognizing their own
strengths and weaknesses, reflecting and
analyzing themselves, awareness of their inner
feelings, desires and dreams, evaluating their
thinking patterns, reasoning with
themselves, understanding their role in
relationship to others
25. How Does This Help You?
Multiple Intelligence Scouts or Leader Position
• Visual-Spatial • Think about the Scouts in
• Verbal-Linguistic your unit.
• Logical-Mathematical • What types of positions
• Bodily-Kinesthetic would best fit these
individuals?
• Musical-Rhythmic
• What types of positions
• Interpersonal would NOT fit these
• Intrapersonal individuals?
28. Working with Special Needs Scouts
The more that you implement teaching to a variety of learning
styles, the more you will reach special needs Scouts.