A few years ago, I went to visit my friend during my vacation time. When I walked into her home, I straightened up immediately. Everything was in order.

You know the stuff your parents tell you as a child like, “A place for everything, and everything in its place?” She followed that principle.

I peeked into her closet. The clothing hangers were all white. And not only were her clothes sorted by category, but also by color.

Her refrigerator was organized. She cooked for the week on Sundays, portioned her food for each day into containers and stacked them in the freezer and refrigerator.

Dishes were washed in a specific way, arranged to dry and put away in a timely manner. By bedtime, everything was in its place.

Order reigned supreme.

I wondered if as a child, she was just as orderly.

On the other hand, there is my teacher friend.

I needed a story book. I knew he had one. I had seen it before in his classroom.

So I went to his room to ask if I could borrow it.

“Of course you can,” he replied, “if I can find it.”

There were stacks of papers, like staccato marks, at strategic locations in the room.

His desk looked like it had been hit with a tornado and hurricane, all at once.

We didn’t find the book then, but he brought it to me before the week ended…just like the times before.

He knew where everything he needed was.

From his stories, there was no need to wonder…he was always like that.

Is one system better than the other?

Each system worked excellently for each friend. So why must one be better?

What about your child?

Is s/he well organized or does s/he create unique methods of organization?

Can s/he show the steps of her/his work easily, or can’t explain how s/he arrived at the answer?

Does s/he follow verbal instructions well, or miss chunks of information given orally?

Would repetition help him/her memorize concepts, or does s/he learn concepts in his/her own way, permanently, and hate drill and practice?

Here’s my question:

When you think about the children in your life who,

• seem not to be listening when you are giving directions
• are intuitive…give answers but can’t explain or outline the steps to arrive at them
• figure things out in their own way, and are annoyed when you keep repeating instructions
• give you unusual solutions to problems…the “what if…” children
• are creative, dramatic, artistic, musical, experimental, very active

Do more boys come to mind than girls?

I’ll bet they do!

These are the visual-spatial children. The children who will struggle to learn in the atmosphere of the current educational system.

To maximize their learning, they need:

• plenty of opportunities for hands- on learning
• a high level of challenge – these children get bored easily
• plenty of work space
• movement while learning
• more images, diagrams, charts, etc. incorporated in the learning materials

How creative and intense is your child?

Is it time to make a visit to his teacher?