Core Consideration of Individuality in Child Development

Core Consideration: Individuality

• Individuality includes unique characteristics, experiences, social identities, interests, strengths, and preferences of each child within their family and community.
• Understanding individuality has implications for how each child develops and learns.
• Differences among children include their personalities, motivations, approaches to learning, knowledge, skills, and abilities related to their cultural experiences.

Learning Styles

Visual Learners

• Learn best when their sense of sight is engaged.
• Quickly show an affinity for books, bright colors, and clear diagrams.
• Can learn from videos, demonstrations, and classroom handouts.
• Remember information best when presented with pictures or graphics.
• Often recognize numbers and letters better than peers with another type of learning style.

Auditory Learners

• Learn best through their sense of hearing.
• Remember and understand new concepts better when explained out loud.
• Can even better retain knowledge when new ideas are paired with non-verbal sounds.
• Often love music and can remember the words to songs they hear.
• Can easily follow spoken directions.

Kinesthetic Learners

• Absorb information best through touch, movement, and motion.
• Need to touch, feel, and move things around to really understand something.
• Often say things like "Let me hold it" and love building model kits and interactive displays.
• May break things apart just to learn about them.
• Prefer modeling clay over pencils or paint and interactive books with textures.

Social vs. Solitary Learning Styles

Solitary Learners

• Are intrapersonal learners, preferring to work alone and use self-study.
• May not raise their hand to answer questions or fully participate in group activities.
• May enjoy playing alone in interest areas.

Social Learners

• Are interpersonal learners, preferring to learn in groups or with other people.
• Fully participate in group activities and are excited by them.
• May not enjoy one-on-one activities as much as solitary learners.

Multimodal Learning

• Uses more than one sense, increasing learning and retention.
• Is ideal for the preschool setting as it supports children making choices and solving problems.
• Examples of multimodal learning include learning activities that engage multiple senses simultaneously.