Hands-on Learning

In my experience as a teacher, both in schools and as a home tutor, I have found that there is one important element to teaching that is often undervalued and ignored ~ `hands-on` learning.

There are three main ways that pupils learn: the first is visual, which involves reading and looking at diagrams and pictures; the second is auditory, which involves listening and speaking and other sounds such as music; and the third is called kinesthetic learning, which involves touch, such as making things and doing experiments - this is hands-on learning.

All pupils tend to have a preference for one of these types of learning over the others.

Schools tend to cater mainly for visual and auditory learners, and those whose natural preference is for hands-on learning can end up struggling and getting left behind.

I have found that many of the pupils I tutor at home have a strong leaning towards hands-on learning.

This is no problem of course for subjects like chemistry and physics, but what about English and maths?

I always make a point of including some hands-on learning in every lesson I teach, including English and maths.

I have a number of techniques for doing this, I won`t go into all them here, but a big favourite of many pupils that I have taught English to, is to follow a set of instructions in order to build something, especially simple electronic models that make fun sounds!

You need to make sure that the instructions are matched to the pupil, both in age and reading ability, so that they can follow them but at the same time be challenged. You can sit with your pupil and help them make the model, asking them questions along the way to test their reading skills and comprehension of the instructions.

Then at the end of the session, your pupil has the satisfaction of a fun model to play with a little, before the even greater satisfaction of dismantling it all again!

I find activities such as this help to engage hands-on learners with subjects like English and maths, increasing their confidence greatly.