Before you begin to work with your Launch student, you may find yourself asking, "What are they like? What can they do? How do they learn?" Hopefully, the research in this section will help you to understand what experts in the field have discovered about the 5-7-year-old child.
WHAT ARE THEY LIKE AND WHAT CAN THEY DO?
The world has changed but child development has not. Kindergartners and First Graders tend to be active and
energetic, curious about the world around them and apt to tire easily. Their thinking is grounded in the
concrete, and although they are beginning to use symbols, they cannot think abstractly. They often confuse
reality and fantasy.
In Piaget's stages of mental development, he lists 2–7-year-olds as pre-operational with these
characteristics:
Cannot perform such mental operations as: adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing;
correspondence, placing in order.
Cannot do certain infra logical operations such as: observing, measuring, classifying; yet to
establish values and still to learn how to get along with others and notice the effects of their
behavior on others.
Stimulus limited.
Centers on one property or aspect of change.
Thought processes are not reversible.
Play and reality confused.
Egocentric.
Time — thinks present, future, past but limited to short duration.
Space — house, yard, neighborhood.
Other experts on the kindergarten child from Student Profile, Lake Washington School District, Kirkland,
Washington; and Kindergarten Curriculum Guide, Ministry of Education, British Columbia, Canada draw a
portrait with these characteristics:
Emotionally
Socially
needs to feel important
dependent on adult
egocentric
sensitive
unique
likes to please
talkative
friendly
resolves conflict with action and words
models behavior of others
socially egocentric
learning to cooperate with others
Physically
Aesthetically
active
industrious
involves whole body in activities
energetic but tires easily
large muscles more coordinated than fine
all muscles still developing
vivid imagination
natural explorer
manipulates
enjoys rhythm and movement
uses all senses
inquiring
responsive
enthusiastic
Intellectually
thinking tied to first-hand experiences.
perceives simple cause and effect when actively involved.
displays reading-like behaviors (holds book correctly, turns pages, left to right and top to bottom
progression).
realizes print carries a message and recognizes own name in print - knows names of common shapes and
can count in order.
As you begin to work with your Launch student, you will begin to draw a portrait of your special buddy.
HOW DO THEY LEARN?
All people, not just Kindergartners and First Graders, learn in a variety of ways. The games in this manual
are designed to accommodate the visual learner, the auditory learner, and the kinesthetic learner. It is
important to understand these learning styles to discover which modality will best reach your special
learner. Here is what to look for:
Visual Learners — learn by watching and seeing, whether by pictures, diagrams, verb descriptions or imagined
scenes.
READING — like descriptions because they can imagine the scene; staring into space can indicate extreme
involvement.
HANDWRITING — generally good in size and spacing.
IMAGINATION — very good imagination, visualize in detail while thinking.
COMMUNICATION — are quiet, but responsive, describe things simply and cannot listen for a lengthy
period.
RESPONSIVE BEHAVIOR — aware of the environment, observe everything, doodles, facial expression reveals
feelings.
PERSONAL APPEARANCE — neat and clean, usually does not vary in dress style.
Auditory Learners — can hear directions and learn from them.
READING — prefer few pictures or descriptions, when reading a story like conversation or dialogue.
HANDWRITING — have difficulty learning to write, verbalize the strokes while writing.
IMAGINATION — think in sounds, details are not important.
COMMUNICATION — love to talk and talk constantly, are repetitive, interrupts others frequently, like the
sound of their own voice.
RESPONSIVE BEHAVIOR — talk to themselves, and sometimes answer; are very verbal; show emotion through tone
quality, pitch, or voice as well as other sounds.
PERSONAL APPEARANCE — the clothes are not important, but they can tell you why those clothes are being
worn.
Kinesthetic Learners — These people are hands-on learners. Their motto is "We learn by doing!"
READING — like action from the first page on, find it difficult to sit still while reading, don't
particularly like reading.
HANDWRITING — push hard on writing utensils, usually have short pencils, and have difficulty writing in
small spaces.
IMAGINATION — visualize only with movement.
COMMUNICATION — use many hand gestures, don't like to listen, hard to hold their attention.
RESPONSIVE BEHAVIOR — are fidgety, in constant movement, can't stay in their seat, touch everything, act out
stories, must try everything, hug, pull, jump, stamp, crawl etc. Constantly seeking tactile feedback.
PERSONAL APPEARANCE — start out neat but end up with a rumpled appearance.
YOUR LAUNCH STUDENT
Your Launch Student is really an exceptional person who may
have a poor self-concept.
have a limited background and experience.
become easily distracted.
have difficulty communicating with others.
act out as a behavior problem.
be uninterested in learning.
be an accelerated learner who is frustrated.
be a strictly audio or visual learner.
display poor performance skills.
have minor health or physical liabilities.
be producing well below potential.
have poor peer relationships.
As you will soon see, your Launch Student is a complex variety of many different personalities – a special
and unique person who needs YOU!!!