Visual learners remember the things they see. They’re better with maps than oral directions, they like to see math problems done on the board, and they really do find pictures better than a thousand (spoken) words. Visual learners like to read and often remember quite accurately the material they find in books. Visual obstructions easily distract this type of learner. They often prefer to sit in the front of the room rather than the back so that they see only the presenter.
Auditory learners remember what they hear. They have amazing recall of oral directions, speeches, and audio books. They prefer lectures and personal explanations to written material, and they do very well with audio tutorials on the computer. Learners of this sort greatly appreciate having material read aloud to them (even as adults), and they absorb not only the words but also the tone of voice, verbal clues, and other nuances of the spoken words.
Tactile or kinesthetic learners remember what they do. They need to build towers of blocks to learn multiplication tables, do science experiments to experience the results, and get out and explore the world they are trying to master. They don’t do well sitting still for long periods of time, and they often fidget or doodle while listening.
about how long does it take for you to be able to begin seriously evaluating what sort of learner your child is. Especially without testing. I think it would take close to a 1.5 years to be able to make accurate deductions or whatever but even then your child is developing so quickly and changing so much, so quickly that it would be hard to say anything about their learning type. I mean, to me, it seems reasonable that as your kid develops more fine and gross motor control they will enter a big tactile learning phase. If your kid gets an ear infection, he might have lessened hearing for a period of time and then develop a greater visual slant to his learning style until everything can straighten itself back out. It seems like 2 or 3 years might be a better age to begin to tell, and even then its so hard.
In my limited experience, learning style can vary in one child from subject to subject, grade to grade. History and Science might be better retained by building projects, English from listening to rather than reading passages while math might be something they can absorb just by watching…