12 Strategies That Support Right-Brained Learners

Every child brings a unique combination of strengths to learning.

Some children seem especially drawn to visual information, patterns, big-picture thinking, hands-on experiences, creativity, meaningful connections, and purposeful movement. At Child1st, we often describe children with these tendencies as right-brained learners.

That doesn't mean they use only the right side of their brain. Both hemispheres work together during learning. We use “right-brained learner” as practical shorthand for a pattern of learning strengths and preferences.

If you're wondering what we mean by the term, start with What Is Right-Brained Learning? What “Right-Brained” Really Means.

If these characteristics sound familiar, the next question is usually:

How can I teach in ways that build on these strengths while still developing the skills my child needs?

Here are 12 practical strategies.

1. Make Learning Hands-On When It Helps Explain the Concept

One of the most useful things I learned while working with children was the power of engaging their hands in learning.

For some children, touching, manipulating, building, sorting, drawing, or physically demonstrating a concept helps make something that seemed abstract suddenly understandable.

The key isn't simply to keep a child's hands busy.

The hands-on activity should reinforce what you're teaching.

For example:

• build words with letter tiles while practicing sound-spelling relationships;
• use counters or manipulatives to show mathematical relationships;
• sort words or objects according to meaningful characteristics;
• construct a model of something you're studying; or
• draw and label a concept while discussing it.

When children can see and physically interact with an idea, they have another way to understand and remember it.

2. Create an Environment That Supports Attention

The learning environment can make a difference.

Some children enjoy color, interesting visuals, and an inviting workspace. At the same time,

too much visual information immediately surrounding the child can become distracting.

You don't need a perfectly decorated classroom or homeschool room.

Instead, pay attention to what helps this particular child focus.

A visually appealing learning area might include children's work, useful reference materials, attractive organization, or illustrations related to what you're studying.

But when it's time to concentrate on a specific task, simplify the immediate workspace.

That balance can be important:

Make the learning environment inviting without making the work area overwhelming.

3. Connect Learning to Real Life

Right-brained learners often respond well when they understand why something matters.

Instead of presenting every skill as an isolated worksheet exercise, look for opportunities to connect learning with the child's interests and everyday life.

For example, rather than teaching all math through pencil-and-paper problems, use money while shopping or saving for something the child wants.

If you're studying measurement, measure materials while building something.

Fractions can appear while cooking.

Writing can have a real audience.

Reading can answer a question the child genuinely wants answered.

This doesn't mean every lesson needs to become an elaborate project.

Sometimes a simple explanation of how the skill connects to something meaningful is enough to give the learner a reason to engage.

4. Help Children See Relationships and Patterns

One of the strengths we often observe in right-brained learners is the ability to notice how ideas connect.

Use that strength intentionally. 

Suppose you're studying volcanoes in science.

Find volcanoes on a map.

Read books about them.

Explore Pompeii in history.

Look at the shapes and structures of different volcanoes.

Use volcano-related data in math.

Write about what you've learned.

Suddenly, the child isn't memorizing a collection of unrelated facts. They're building a network of connected knowledge.

You can do something similar within individual subjects.

In reading and spelling, draw attention to meaningful sound-spelling patterns.

In math, show how a new concept relates to something the child already understands.

In history, connect events through cause and effect.

Ask frequently:

“What does this remind you of?”

“What pattern do you notice?”

“How is this like something we've learned before?”

Connections give new information somewhere to belong.

5. Use Purposeful Movement

Some children think and attend better when learning isn't confined entirely to sitting at a desk.

Movement can be helpful—but the strongest learning activities don't add random movement simply for the sake of moving.

Whenever possible, connect the movement to the concept.

For example, a child might:

• use a gesture associated with a word or concept;
• move objects while solving a math problem;
• act out vocabulary;
• physically arrange parts into a sequence;
• use large arm movements while forming letters; or
• demonstrate a relationship with their body.

A whiteboard mounted on a wall can also provide a simple change from paper-and-pencil work and allow a child to stand while practicing.

The goal isn't constant activity.

It's to give children another meaningful way to interact with what they're learning.

6. Show the Goal and Make Progress Visible

Some learners find it much easier to work through individual steps when they can first see where they're going.

Before beginning, make the goal clear. 

You might say:

“By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to read these six words without my help.”

or:

“We're going to learn why multiplying by 10 works the way it does.”

For longer tasks, make progress visible.

Write tasks on cards and remove or turn over each one as it's completed.

Use a checklist.

Break a large assignment into smaller pieces.

Show where the child is starting, where they're headed, and what they'll accomplish along the way.

For a learner who naturally sees the whole before the parts, knowing the destination can make the individual steps much more meaningful.

7. Discover What Helps Your Child Focus

There isn't one focusing strategy that works for every right-brained learner.

That's why observation is so valuable.

Years ago, I discovered something surprisingly simple about myself.

When I was having difficulty settling down to a desk task, a lamp shining directly on my work helped me focus my attention on the area in front of me. With the entire room brightly lit, every object seemed equally available to my attention.

That simple change helped me.

Your child's solution may be completely different.

Experiment with things such as:

• clearing the immediate workspace;
• reducing unnecessary visual distractions;
• working in shorter periods;
• alternating seated work with movement;
• using a visual checklist;
• providing a quiet workspace; or
• allowing appropriate hands-on tools during instruction.

Rather than assuming a child “just needs to concentrate,” ask:

“What conditions make concentrating easier for this child?”

8. Reduce Clutter During Focused Work

This strategy is closely related to the previous one.

As a visual learner myself, I know what clutter can do to my attention. Every scrap of paper and every object on my workspace seems to compete to be noticed.

A child may experience something similar.

Before beginning a focused task, try leaving only the materials needed for that activity on the work surface.

Give everything else a home: 

Pencils go in the pencil cup.

Books go on the shelf or in a basket.

Finished papers go in a designated spot.

Supplies that aren't needed right now go away.

The room doesn't have to be sterile.

We're simply reducing competition for attention where the child is currently working.

9. Experiment With the Conditions That Help Learning

Years ago, when I was struggling to write three manuscripts, I experimented with playing Mozart. I found that once the music was playing, writing sometimes began to flow more easily.

Experiment with the learning environment and notice what actually helps your child.

Some children work best in quiet.

Others may prefer appropriate background music during certain independent tasks.

Some need a highly structured workspace.

Others benefit from a little more flexibility.

Instead of assuming one environment is best for every learner, observe the child's performance.

Does this help concentration—or compete with it?

Does the child work more independently—or less?

Try something, observe, and adjust.

10. Teach Children to Use Visualization

Many children naturally form mental images, and that ability can become a useful learning tool.

Visualization can help children think about: 

• a scene in a story;
• the steps in a task;
• an event they're learning about;
• the meaning of vocabulary;
• the structure of a problem; or
• something they're planning to write.

You can develop this ability through simple activities.

Visualize, Then Act It Out

Say:

“Close your eyes and make pictures in your head of what I say.”

Then give a short sequence:

“Stand up, walk to the window, look outside, walk to the door, close it, touch your toes, and then sit back down.”

Give the child a moment to picture the sequence before carrying it out.

Start small and gradually make the sequence more complex.

Visualize, Then Draw

Read a sentence or short passage that is easy to picture.

Ask the child to imagine what is happening.

Then have them draw what they pictured.

Afterward, return to the text and compare the drawing with the details actually stated.

This can be especially useful during reading comprehension because it encourages the child to connect language with meaning.

Visualization should supplement—not replace—direct instruction and practice. But for children who naturally think in images, it can be a powerful bridge to understanding.

11. Help Children Prioritize and Sequence

Seeing relationships and the big picture can be a wonderful strength.

But a child who sees everything at once may sometimes have trouble deciding what deserves attention first.

Imagine having five assignments to complete. 

Rather than repeatedly telling the child to “get organized,” make the decision-making process visible.

Write each task on a separate card or slip of paper.

Then ask:

Which one is due first?

Which one will take the longest?

Is there something that needs to happen before another task can begin?

Would it help to complete a quick task first, or should we tackle the hardest one while your energy is high?

Once the child decides, place the cards in order.

Then look only at the first task.

Over time, gradually transfer responsibility for this process to the child.

We're not simply organizing today's homework.

We're explicitly teaching how to prioritize and sequence work independently.

12. Encourage Drawing and Visual Problem-Solving

Drawing isn't just an art activity.

It can also be a thinking tool. 

A child who is struggling to understand a math word problem might draw what is happening.

A student planning a story might sketch the sequence before writing.

A child studying science might draw a process and label its parts.

When I took a graduate-level math class as an adult, I found myself drawing little pictures to represent problems.

At first, I felt self-conscious about it. I thought someone my age shouldn't need to draw pictures to solve math.

But the pictures helped me see what the problem was asking.

That's what mattered.

Children shouldn't be made to feel that using a visual strategy is somehow less sophisticated than thinking entirely in symbols.

At the same time, the visual representation can become a bridge.

Once the child understands the problem through a picture or model, help them connect that understanding to the conventional numbers, symbols, vocabulary, written explanation, or procedure they also need to learn.

Use the strength to build the skill.

Supporting Strengths While Building New Skills

Supporting a right-brained learner doesn't mean avoiding anything that feels sequential, verbal, abstract, or difficult.

Children still need to develop skills that may not initially come as naturally.

They need practice.

They need explicit instruction.

They need opportunities to work independently.

And in reading, children still need systematic instruction in foundational skills such as phonemic awareness, sound-spelling relationships, decoding, encoding, and fluency.

The difference is that we don't have to ignore children's strengths while teaching those skills.

We can use:

visuals to clarify,

patterns to organize,

hands-on experiences to make ideas concrete,

movement to reinforce meaning,

stories and context to create connections,

and the big picture to give the individual steps a purpose.

The learning objective doesn't change.

The pathway we use to reach it can.

Learn How Your Child Learns

One of the most useful things you can do is observe your child during moments when learning is going especially well.

What are they doing?

What captured their attention?

What made the concept click?

What helped them remember?

Ask questions such as:

“How did you remember that?”

“How did you figure that out?”

“What did you notice?”

“What did that remind you of?”

The answers can teach you a great deal about your child's learning strengths.

And just as importantly, those conversations can help children begin recognizing the strategies that work for themselves.

That growing self-awareness can eventually help them become more flexible and independent learners.

If you're still trying to determine whether these characteristics describe your child, read Is Your Child a Right-Brain Dominant Learner? Characteristics & Traits.

For a fuller explanation of Child1st's use of the term, read What Is Right-Brained Learning? What “Right-Brained” Really Means.