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Spacial Awareness Deficiencies
Spatial awareness deficiencies often manifest themselves as learning disabilities. Those affected have difficulty in writing and organizing thoughts. Sometimes they appear uncoordinated. Sometimes they can't tell left from right, read a clock, or grasp mathematical concepts of shape and space. Children, however, can grow out of these deficits, with a little help from their parents and teachers.
Elementary School
The first exposure to spacial awareness skills sets the stage for future performance in school. Children can learn the shape of things by using tactile exercises like bending, twisting and turning objects. They can move their bodies and make geometric shapes with their hands and arms, or develop more difficult concepts for creative thinking. As children progress in elementary school, spatial awareness concepts take form. Planets, discussed in a 2-dimensional representation of the solar system, are a great way to teach spatial awareness. Differences and similarities of Earth to other planets will develop the ability to distinguish objects in the mind of a child.
Middle School
Middle school is an opportunity to demonstrate more abstract concepts. Children develop empathy toward people and the natural world. They impart concepts of justice and suffering using critical thinking of others around them, perhaps by discussing news topics. They also make and color maps of the world or play simple logic games such as mind maps to organize information.
High School
The progress of learning spacial concepts often manifests itself in high school with the introduction of complex concepts of math and critical thinking. One tool to improve spatial awareness is the introduction to interpreting information. Students detail the different sections of data dictionaries and how to use glossaries and make bibliographies. This works spacial concepts in the mind, while sports help with their bodies' relationship to what surrounds them.