As I speak with parents about their child’s unique learning style and struggles in school, I often ask, “What is your child’s favorite toy?” An immediate answer of “LEGO™s!” tells me I am undoubtedly speaking to a parent of a visual spatial thinker. Despite the fact that many of these children have intellectual strengths, they may have difficulty navigating the educational system. Individuals with spatial strengths have preferences for visual ideation, holistic reasoning, and innovation. With the emphasis on verbal skills, our schools rarely provide opportunities for children to excel in these areas. Standardized assessments used to judge achievement do not value reflective thinking and innovation; therefore, students are seldom provided assignments and activities that focus on solving complex and creative problems. There is a disconnect between schools and the business world as these are the attributes we need to develop creative solutions to current problems.
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Area of Strength
Grasps relationships between systems Excels with complex, higher level content Is reflective Has excellent memory for specific information Is preoccupied with ideas Is able to manipulate visual images Exhibits creative talent Excels at mathematical concepts Uses metaphoric language effectively Has strong reading comprehension skills Is aware of physical properties and patterns Possesses a vivid imagination |
Perceived Weakness
Has difficulty grasping isolated details Struggles with easy or basic content May be seen as a daydreamer Has difficulty with rote memorization Possesses weak social skills Processes verbal communication slowly Struggles in traditional academic settings Has poor mathematical computation skills Rarely uses concise, descriptions in language Has weak reading decoding skills Is slow to process conventional understandings Has difficulty putting stories into written form |
For more information on Visual Spatial Learners, see the articles below...
| Eye to Eye |
| Effective Teaching Strategies for Gifted Students with Spatial Strengths |
