“Let’s look at this differently”, “I can’t see the big picture”, “See how this works?” – stand back here comes a visual learner and a future artist, builder, inventor or musician, that is if they can get through our education system.
These right hemi-sphere thinking (that’s creative thinking) students are not wired to produce written reports on the thoughts they visualise in their mind, at least not until they learn how. They think and learn in multi-dimensional images. Our education system is more geared to teach left hemi-sphere thinking auditory learners who think and learn in words rather than images.
A visual-spatial learner may be good at spelling and lousy with names, needs a quiet study time, likes colour and is good with charts, maps and diagrams. They remember pictures and are good with direction. They will always have trouble remembering verbal instructions and must learn by taking notes.
As a parent you can help by explaining a project you wish them to do by explaining why you want them to do something, because they need to see the big picture first.
by Peter Kenyon: Tutor at XtraMile Tuition Strategies
A long, long time ago, in the jungle, there was a flying zebra called Super Zebra. He was always very nice to people and Santa heard about him from the reindeers who were flying over and saw him rescuing a baby possum from the swamp. Santa asked Super Zebra to help deliver the presents because he was one reindeer down in the sleigh team. The night before Christmas, Super Zebra was flying high in the sky picking up presents and delivering before morning. That was the beginning of his job as Santa’s delivery zebra.
Grandma’s Visit
Only on dark nights when there is no moon, from a big house in the city, the ginger and black cat leaves to go out adventuring. She is small, friendly and adventurous. She goes, with her friends, to an underground river where there is a little house that is full of woolly pink balls and cat food that tastes like marshmallows. They play for three hours, eat for one hour and then they sleep until they wake up. On dark nights the cat goes home and then she goes to sleep.
Neither my brother nor I know anything about the mystery of the ghost on the hill. Last night under a big fat moon, Taj and I were climbing up the slope when we heard a quiet, low-pitched, short moan that sounded like me when I see a spider. We both screamed and Taj ran over the hill and I ran down the valley towards the creek where the fish were slipping and sliding as if they were about to die with me. Something white and weirdly-shaped ran straight at me and pushed me into the slimy water of the slippery creek and I screamed, “help me, Taj!”. The light was just the fat moon and Taj was laughing at me.
One night I left the stove on at my stinky house and I was woken by the unfamiliar smell of fire and hoary rubbish that I left on the table. By the time I got to the kitchen, I smelt the fire cooking a stale apple core and a decayed banana peel that smelt gross, and the dog food that smelt nice. The fireman said, ‘’You smell like you haven’t had a bath for 6 months!” and I said, “That’s true”. He sprayed rusty water on me with his big water hose until I smelt as lovely as a rose. While the fire brigade was busy washing me, my house was busy turning into a vessel of lovely ashes.
It was a beautiful day on the beach for Samantha because she loved all the people and dogs surrounding her. She loved laughter and barking. She heard some people singing “Happy Birthday” and then she had a great idea. She bought ice-cream for everyone because it was her birthday too. Soon everyone was singing “Happy Birthday” to Samantha as they licked their ice-creams.
The policewoman felt her way into the dark room, smelt dead fish and saw ropes hanging from the walls. The light was so dim that she heard the child’s soft sobs before she saw the tiny, petrified girl tied to the rusty pole in the corner. The door slammed, heavy work-boots scraped and the harf-harf harf-harf of an asthmatic wheeze lifted the soft hairs on the back of her neck like zombies rising in a graveyard. Her trembling hands reached for the taser in the side pocket of her belt, she turned and shot the barbs and the dark shape froze, jerked and collapsed onto the concrete. The policewoman rushed to the child, wrapped her arms around her and whispered, You’re safe now.”
A long time ago in an old house, there was a brown teddy bear with a special secret. Every morning, before breakfast, the fluffy little guy would put on his black cloak. He would get in his toy car and drive right down the narrow street and visit his friend Bob, the polar bear teddy. They would play in Bob’s huge garden until the sun fell. Teddy would drive in his little red car back down from his secret friend’s house until he was back in the old house.
XtraMile Tuition Strategies (North Brisbane) - 0451 030188 