Every child is unique and so is his/her learning style (auditory, visual & kinesthetic). This is nothing new, but the “breaking news” (heart breaking) is that most classroom teaching is best suited to auditory learners – it’s “more talk than chalk”!! And hence, the visual and kinesthetic learners often struggle. The conventional method typically used in schools is left brain teaching (workbooks, flash cards, lectures, and sit down at a desk work). It is effective with about 45 percent of the children, the other 55 percent are like round pegs forced into square holes.
With whole brain teaching (Multisensory Teaching) one reaches all the learning styles so that about 90 percent of the children are happy learners. Science shows us that language acquisition happens easily through motor movement (right brain department). Supporting this fact, a statistics documented the fact that children remember 60 percent of what they do, 30 percent of what they see and 10 percent of what they hear. So, it clearly means that for effective learning to happen in children, it is imperative to simultaneously engage as many senses as possible. Instead of just telling a child about an orange, we should let them touch it, smell it, taste it, and even squash it!!!
Taking this concept of multisensory learning into phonics, it goes as follows:
A child see a “S”, she says the sound /sssssssssss/, she also traces the shape of an “S” on the carpet with her bare feet (tactile), or use large, full arm movement to write a huge “S” in air (kinesthetic). As she traces the shape of the letter “S” she would see it, which would add in the visual component, and as she says the sound /sssssssssss/ aloud, she will hear it (auditory).
Isn’t it fun??? It is for sure, but more than that it is learning without any stress and anxiety.
Here are few multisensory activities, which can be easily done at home during your “Phonics Time”:
1. Sugar, Sand, Rice, Flour: Use them at your own risk as they can be quite messy but also quite effective. Put either of the things into a dish or a baking pan to contain the mess. Making letters in these material with fingers is great for making kinesthetic connections.
2. Play Dough: roll the letters to make words but you can also flatten the dough into pancake type pieces and “carve’ the letters in them.
3. Honey loop letters: A yummy delight indeed! Make letters with honey loops and say the sound. This activity has dual benefits – it reinforces the sound, also it hones the fine motor skills (essential for writing) as the child picks up little loops and arrange them to form letters.
4. Squishy Bag: Take flour and food color. Make a paste with water. Fill this paste in a zip lock. Tape it to ensure that no leakage happens. With finger or a cotton bud, encourage your child to write letter.
5. Dig for letters: In sand or rice, once found encourage child to say the sound aloud and possibly even make a simple cvc word (cat, sun, fan).
6. Smashing Ice Fun: Freeze small plastic letters in small bowls or muffin moulds and then have some smashing ice fun while practicing sounds and letter recognition.
7. ABC Ball: On a big inflatable multicolored ball, write all letters with a marker. And you are ready to go!! Let your child toss the ball up in the air as high as his/her little arms would let him. When it lands, he/she will pick it up with both hands and they will say the letter sound that his/her thumbs were touching.
You thought he is learning???......... No, he is playing!! Or, may be vice versa.
8. Hit the sound: Write the letters on a post it. (one letter on each post it). Stick them on floor, with a fly swatter, the child has to hit the letter corresponding to the sound pronounced by parent.
There is no end to the list. Go creative, have fun, enjoy and learn. But, do remember to link and involve as many senses as you can. After all, PHONICS HAS TO BE MULTISENSORY!!!
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