Visual, Auditory, or Kinesthetic? Figuring Out How Your Kid Learns

Today we're talking about… learning styles.

Let’s just go ahead and say it — figuring out how your kid learns can feel like a mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a tantrum. One day they love worksheets. The next day they sob over a pencil like it betrayed them. The third their recall over a book they just read was the best you've ever heard! But then the following day they can't read.

If you’ve been wondering:
“Do I have a visual learner? Or auditory? Or maybe they just learn by osmosis while chewing on a crayon?”

You’re not alone.

We’ve been there. Honestly, we’re still there sometimes. 😅 But here’s what I’ve been learning the messy, slow way — your kid does have a natural way they take in information. And when you pay attention to it (instead of just doing what the book says)... things just click more.

👀 Visual Learners

These are the kids who love pictures, charts, color-coded anything. They might:

• Love flipping through picture books
• Be drawn to diagrams, maps, or doodles
• Remember what they saw on the page

What helps:

• Colorful books
• Visual schedules
• YouTube videos or animations
• Highlighters (so many highlighters)

Curriculum Ideas: 

• The Good and The Beautiful
• Apologia Science
• Math-U-See
• All About Reading/All About Spelling
• Sonlight

👂 Auditory Learners

These kiddos are all about sound. They remember what they heard, not what they read. They might:

• Repeat things out loud to themselves
• Love music, rhymes, or read-alouds
• Struggle with written instructions but totally get it when you explain it out loud

What helps:

• Audio books
• Singing songs for memorization
• Talking through concepts
• Read-alouds (even for older kids!)

Curriculum ideas:

• Classical Conversations ( Especially Foundations)
• Story of the World
• IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing)
• Compass Classroom
• Veritas Press (Self Paced)

✋ Kinesthetic Learners

These are the movers. The touchers. The kids who have to get their hands on something to figure it out.
They might:

• Wiggle constantly
• Build, climb, act things out
• Remember what they did, not what they saw or heard

What helps:

• Hands-on activities
• Flashcards they can move
• Acting things out
• Drawing while listening

Curriculum ideas

• Handwriting Without Tears
• RightStart Math
• Gather Round Homeschool
• Five in a Row
• Real Science Odyssey

So How Do You Figure Out What They Are?

Here’s what worked for us: Just… watch them. Seriously. Don’t overthink it. Sit back and notice:

• What are they drawn to?
• When do they light up?
• What frustrates them?

And spoiler: most kids are a mix.

Mine? Totally auditory and kinesthetic. So we do lots of fidget toys and songs with hand movements and sometimes snacks. Because why not.

You don’t have to put your kid in a box. You’re just figuring out what helps them connect with the material better. And that’s not cheating. That’s teaching.

Final Thought:There’s no perfect style. No perfect curriculum. No perfect anything. Just a mama doing her best with the kids God gave her.

So take a breath. Watch your child. Adjust as you go.

You’re doing better than you think.
—Lori 💛

To know God and to make Him known

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