Learning Styles

I remember reading a while back a book on learning styles. Apparently the three big ones are auditory (A), visual (V) and kinesthetic (K). I tend to be VKA in that order. Manisha says she is VAK, and our assessment of Supriya is that she is AKV. This whole discussion came about while talking about Aseem. He just does not listen. He has to touch first and see second to understand something (making him a likely KVA). But listen? Forgetaboutit! We borrowed a book-on-CD today. Supriya and I were enjoying it on the drive home from the library, but Aseem kept talking and annoying us just as we were getting into the well-narrated story. It is as if he does not hear (which is of course not the case, physiologically speaking). This happens daily and I am now getting a handle on the issue.

Our friends Noah, Karl and Diane host Games Nights occasionally, and that's where I became aware of my own learning styles. Karl would explain the rules of the game orally, and within a sentence or two I'd be lost. Then I'd hear myself say, "Let's start playing and then I'll get it!" After a number of such incidents I realized that the learning styles is the answer here. Manisha and I would much prefer to start playing a game and go through it once in order to pick up the rules of the game than to hear (or even read for that matter) what the rules are.

Here is an article about learning styles. Interestingly, the article calls the third style Haptic (for touch) instead of Kinesthetic, which would in fact describe Aseem's style perfectly. I have always said that Aseem lives through his hands.