Tactile Learning Techniques for Begining Reader

could you take photos of him making letter shapes with his body to spell otu words I'm thinking like "thank you" or simple 3 letter workds there would be three picts.

Hi K.-

You do not mention the age of your son...but shaving cream words are fun! Also...using dough (play OR cookie) is fun to make letters and spell out words...and you can bake and 'eat' your words with cookie dough.

Also...for the older 'set' making the picture for words on a flash card is good...

Best luck!
Michele/cat

Many kids learn to write before they learn to read. Go with that.

My kids also love chasing sight words all over the house. I throw the cards all over the room and send them on a "scavenger hunt" to find a specific word.

The Rocket Phonics curriculum has lots of ideas on how to work with kinesthetic learners.

How old is your son? writing is tactile, have him write the sight words just a few at a time. but daily, write stories together, let him use inventive spelling for most words. If he knows the sounds of letters he can invent how to spell "btrfli" for butterfly etc Encourage him to write about your visit to the park or what he made with legos or his painting or project or what ever he likes.

how about tub letters and refrigerator magnet letters. give him a word scramble. just put the 3 letters for that sight word up and make a game of him trying to rearange into the word.

Add actions to sounds and words. When I taught kindergarten, we would say the alphabet and sounds with an action for each sound (usually something to do with a word that starts with the sounds). We would also write the letters in the air and say the letter and sound. For high frequency words, one strategy was to look at the card with the word, and then say the word, clap each letter, and say the word again. For phonemic (sound-it-out) words, we would often say the word then say the sounds as we "wrote" them on the carpet, our hand, or another student's back (just with our finger). You can also add dance and song to learning to read. Any motion, really, can help trigger his brain and help him remember.
He may also enjoy making tactile letters, even if he knows his letters. I gave each child a paper with the letter traced on it in block style (about 4"x6"). We glued something that started with the sound onto the letter. For example, a was applejacks, m was marshmallows, f was feathers, s was sandpaper. Even though I don't think most of them lasted once they went home (especially the food ones), it was another tactile activity to trigger the kids learning. And, you can also use the foods later to help him remember the sound/letter.

One thing that many kids miss when they struggle with reading is phonemic awareness. Try these games: clap syllables in a word with him, say a simple word and ask him to break it down into the sounds (cat is /c/-/a/-/t/), and say three sounds and ask him to tell you the word (/b/-/oo/-/k/ for book). If he struggles, keep playing the games; have him take turns asking you to do it, too. Add movement in to help him learn them.

And don't forget how connected writing is to reading! Teach him to write the words as he is learning to read them, both by remembering the letters in a word (especially high frequency) and by breaking the word down into sounds and writing each sound. Don't worry about perfect spelling yet, that will come, but the whole practice of writing is another tactile activity that can help him remember reading.

Last, if you're still worried in the fall, talk to his teacher and the special education coordinator at your school. He may have a learning disability (which is defined as normal or above normal intelligence but struggling in a certain area) and qualify for additional help through the school. Early intervention is important when there are reading struggles, because it gets harder and harder to catch up!

have him follow the book with his fingers. I am actually tactile and have trouble with the visual. So I have to use a ruler when I read to keep my eyes from jumping around. make his hands busy while reading. make him write down the site words that are a problem for him. That is a tactile trait. He will lose focus and go back again that is another tactile trait. If he needs to let him do it. Give him a pen and paper when he reads. If he doodles while reading let him. It is actually making him focus. I am very tactile and have to listen to a back ground noise of some sort to focus. He maybe diffrent in the tactile learning than me cause most people are a mixture of all 3. so find what works for him and let him do it. making him write his sight words that he should know by now and make him say them outloud while he writes them should help him to. you are getting all 3 at the same time. visual, tactile and audio. good luck

Google terms like "kinesthetic learning, reading techniques," and related terms that will be offered. There are dozens of links, many of which offer specific and practical suggestions.

One thing that seemed to help kids I used to tutor was to have them write letters and words really big on blackboard or butcher paper, or finger-paint letters (they loved this and would stick with it for a long time). Some kids also like to associate a body/dance movement with a specific sound, and then try to "assemble" them into whole words. This is best with younger kids who are just learning ABC's and simple spelling.