Albert Einstein – Visual Thinker
Albert Einstein was a genius. Did you know he was also a right brain and VISUAL thinker?
Visual Learner
Art Fuels the Brain
Art has special significance to children because it is a visual, tactile medium that meets children in their learning need. Young Rembrandts uses art to develop learning skills that are essential to all young children.
Make Reading a Big Adventure!
We’re half way through summer (sad) and your kids have either been chipping away at that summer reading list or they’ve been engaged in less ‘academic’ pursuits and you’re feeling the need to get back at it. For most kids, a summer reading list or big stack of books can seem intimidating, even dry, especially for visual learners.
Summer is Here! Now what…?
Summer Vacation has finally arrived and while we all deserve a break from hectic schedules and homework, we need to keep our kids active. A lot can happen over summer to help build a child’s mind – but left unattended, a great deal of what’s been learned last year can be lost. 
Summer is the perfect time to experiment with different kinds of learning for different learning styles; all while keeping it light and having fun.
Reading Help
A few weeks ago my sister Diane called to talk about her granddaughter Lanie. 
It seems her first grade teacher had some concerns about her reading and wanted to meet with Lanie’s mom and dad. They talked as a family about what the stumbling block might be and remembered our conversations about visual learners. Lanie is a visual learner and she loves to draw. She loves to draw anywhere, anytime, all the time. She takes weekly Young Rembrandts classes at her elementary school. Lanie is a visual learner – but not because she loves art. She’s a visual learner because that is how her brain is wired.
8 Great iPad Apps for Kids: Reading Apps for Children
Here are 8 AWESOME apps to help your child learn and enjoy reading! 
- Reading Rainbow: Offers a library of books to users, themed according to a child’s interests (action adventures, magical tales, etc.). Kids can choose to have a book read aloud to them or to read the book themselves. To access more than one book, however, you’ll have to subscribe to the app — a $10 recurring monthly fee or $30 for six months.
- Starfall Learn to Read: an app version of the stellar learn-to-read website, Starfall. The app has the same content as the “Learn to Read” section of the site. There are 15 mini-books, each focusing on a specific vowel, along with videos and activities to enhance literacy learning. As with other Starfall apps, the thorough and careful design keeps kids focused on learning.
- Martha Speaks Dog Party: A US Dept. of Education-funded study found target vocabulary improved up to 31 percent for children ages 3-7 who played this Parents’ Choice Recommended app over a two-week period. Includes FOUR fun-filled games starring Martha, the talking dog from the popular PBS KIDS TV series MARTHA SPEAKS(TM).
Chocolate Math and Visual Learners
Last night our grandson Brayden had some subtraction homework to do. He had already finished his writing and sight words and his enthusiasm was beginning to fade. To reinvigorate homework time and make the math fun, his mom brought out the math manipulatives, but these were extra special manipulatives. Emily filled a small paper cup about half full of M+Ms. And as much as kids are attracted to small colorful objects, small colorful chocolate objects are really engaging. She explained that he could use the candy to count out and subtract the numbers, and when the homework was successfully completed, they were his to eat.
Move that table. It’s blocking the sun.
How can you have a sunny day at the beach, while confined to the Chicago suburbs over spring break?? If your kids have a spirit of adventure, an active imagination and a few choice props – anything is possible.
One of my favorite ‘staycation’ family memories happened years ago when our girls were in elementary school. It was spring break and we were excited to have a week without homework and time constraints, mom included. And at our house that meant lots more time for playful adventures.
One day, without realizing what I would inspire, I brought home three inexpensive pink and white striped tote bags, one for each daughter. Inside each bag was a pair of summer flip-flops. As I gave the girls their tote bags, I could see big sister Laurie’s wheels start turning. She quickly swept her younger sisters into her imagination and upstairs to change. Soon they reappeared holding beach towels, wearing swimsuits, sunglasses and their new flip-flops. The dining room chairs were quickly moved away from the table, the towels spread out underneath and a sunny afternoon beach adventure ensued.
How can you encourage creative at home adventures?
Spring Cleaning and Organizing Your Family
I recently went through the messy and exhausting process of deep cleaning of my home office.
I noticed that my crowded work space was beginning to affect my mental space, so it was time to dig in and declutter. The piles on my desk were overwhelming, my bookshelves overflowing and my filing system completely ineffective. So after considerable time spent sorting, purging and reorganizing, I can say it was worth every bit of the effort. Not only is the space more inviting, the atmosphere itself feels cleaner and I feel there’s room for me and my thoughts now.
As much as a good purging and declutter is for us as adults, it is even more significant for our kids. Young children are in the process of developing internal order and the space around them profoundly affects them externally and internally.
Your Child’s Test Anxiety: Why All the Stress?
Standardized tests can strike fear in the heart of any man – young and old, but ever wonder why? It seems odd that a few questions that require a pencil dot on a Scantron Sheet, can bring forth such stress and emotion. This is especially true for visual-spatial learners whose test results don’t reflect their true intelligence or ability.
Testing is designed with a left-brain bias. Linear-thinkers with good short-term memory and deductive thinking skills are much more likely to score well on standardized tests, because they measure the way the left side of the brain works, leaving our right-brain kids at a significant disadvantage.
