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The invited guest for this article is Dr Noel K.H. Chia, a board-certified diplomate of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals and also a board-certified educational therapist registered with the Association of Educational Therapists, USA.

Introduction

Studies conducted by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD), USA, have shown that the multisensory teaching approach (MSYA for short) is the most effective method to teach children with learning difficulties, especially those diagnosed with dyslexia, to read/spell.

In a normal classroom situation, regular teaching is often done using either sight (visual sensations) or hearing (auditory sensations). However, when the MSTA is used, a child learns through more than one of the several senses. This means involving also the use of the child’s senses in terms of touch (tactile) and movement (kinetic), e.g., tracing a letter made out of sandpaper. This provides the child’s brain tactile and kinetic memories to hang on to besides the visual and auditory ones.

Success of the MSTA

The success of the MSTA lies in the fact that children are not restricted to visual and auditory experiences but can make use of other areas of their brain in trying to establish clear memories of letters, words and numbers that are difficult to remember for the purpose of reading/spelling/writing.

To ensure a successful learning experience through the MSTA, there are four essential pointers to observe as well as to implement during teaching:

1. A visual memory (i.e., a mental picture that our brain keeps of something) of the letter sound with a picture on an alphabet chart. The alphabet chart provides the children the opportunity to memorize the picture with the sound at the start, and to say the sound out loud. Seeing the letter next to a key picture helps the child to create a strong visual memory of the letter shape, the sound, and the picture clue.

2. An auditory memory (i.e., a memory of something we have heard) of the letter sound. When we say a sound out loud, our brain hears that sound and retains a memory of it so that it can be retrieved as and when we need.

3. A kinesthetic memory (i.e., a memory that our brain keeps of a movement we have made) of the letter sound action and/or movement. For each letter sound, a child can find: (a) A suggested storyline, i.e., a suggested short story that the child can add the sound and action; (b) An action that provides an excellent multisensory channel to aid in remembering each letter sound. E.g., “ch” makes a nosie of a rumbling old train - moving arms at sides as if you are a train and say “ch, ch, ch …” As a result, the child learns to connect the kinesthetic memory with a letter sound. it is also important to be culturally sensitive when introducing the kinesthetic element by ensuring that actions should be appropriate and acceptable to the child’s culture or background in order to help him/her remember the letter sound better. E.g., “oi” makes a noise of a pig grunting - “oink, oink, oink.” This will be inappropriate or may be even perceived as insulting if it is taught to a Muslim child; and (c) A worksheet to be completed by the child.

 4. A tactile experience of the letter (e.g., sandpaper cut-out, plasticine or clay letters). To create a strong memory of the feel (haptic) of each letter, a child can make letters out of plasticine, play-dough, clay or pipe cleaner. Ready-made sandpaper/plastic letters can also be bought from various educational suppliers.

MSTA Activities

There are many games/activities for children working in a group using the MSTA. Below are some examples of MSTA activities:

• The best possible individual reading and sound blending practice can be achieved by the picture/word matching activity.
• Worksheets involving reading a sentence and drawing a picture of it.
• Making letters from plasticine, play-dough or clay.
• Tracing letters in a shallow tray of sand/rice grains. This is especially helpful for those who are confused with directionality of letters (e.g., b/d; p/q; m/w; s/z; n/u).
• Skywriting: pretending to write a letter in the air with large movements as it provides the child with a kinesthetic experience to help him/her remember the shape of each letter sound.
• using a “feely” bag which has objects in it and children are asked to guess what the object is without seeing it. This activity can be used to revise letter shapes, linking them to appropriate/respective letter sounds.
• Stitching a letter sound along the shape of a letter is something most children enjoy doing.

However, it is important to remember not to play or emphasise too much on competitive games/activities as these might inevitably set up one child for success, two for failure, and others might not be willing to participate so as not to appear “stupid”.

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