Does your student or child prefer to read aloud, whisper the words when reading or form the words with their mouths? Does he or she do better on oral tests than on written? These are very strong indications that your student learns best by listening, not reading or taking notes.

Learning by listening comes naturally to right-brained students whose strongest learning sense is auditory. They are often able to remember more of what they hear than any of the students who are taking notes. They don’t need to write down what you are saying or reading to them. They have excellent memories, many have photographic memories of the words they hear and can fill in the blanks with information they did not hear or forgot.

If your students prefer to look away from you or out the window while you are teaching them, don’t scold them for not paying attention. They are! They are listening to the words you are saying, and turning them into concrete pictures in their minds while gazing off somewhere.

Success for these students depends on how well the teacher presents the lessons and gives instructions in spoken words. The clearer the instructions, the better the student can visualize what must be processed and stored. Teaching them is providing answers to the following five steps:

1. Why am I learning this

2. What must I give in my answers to questions

3. How should I present my answers (orally or written)

4. How much time have I got to work out the answers

5. What will I have learned when I’m finished

If the oral presentation is complete and makes sense, and the students are tested, most students will earn marks and have good self-esteem. Strongly auditory students seldom study for tests and can pass examinations on what they were told, not what they read.