What is Your Child’s Learning Style?
Why do you need to figure out your child’s learning style? You are their teacher and if you can enhance their learning experience and figure out the best way to reach them then why not?
When I first started homeschooling I found a wonderful book that was a textbook about my son, he is a visual spatial learner. called Upside-down Brilliance: The Visual Spatial Learner. This revolutionized our homeschooling, being an auditory learner myself I was teaching him using the methods that I liked best and wondering why they were failing.
Once I realized what I was doing wrong and I started to cater my teaching style to his learning style, he learned so much more and retained a lot of the info that we were working through.
Does this mean I only teach in a visual manner? No, I also want to incorporate other styles to strengthen the other areas where he is weaker in as well. He’s not going to be able to go to college or work at a job that is specifically catered to his way all of the time. He’s going to have to find ways to use his strengths and make it work for him.
When M1 was younger, I’d read aloud to him and he’d like to follow along on the page right beside me before I asked for a narration. I don’t always let him do that, I read aloud to him without him seeing the words, I have him read aloud, I have him read aloud while he’s walking around the room. You’d be surprise at how much he takes in while he’s moving around. I have him read silently to himself. You need to change things up. Let them explore other ways that may help them learn as well.
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Auditory Learner
If your child is an auditory learner they learn through languange. They remember things when it is given to them orally. They enjoy your read alouds and oral direction and can remember them well.- give oral instruction
- enjoy discussing ideas
- may enjoy background music or need to work in a quiet environment
Kinesthetic Learner
Children learn by doing, they want to hands-on interaction with what they are learning. They cannot sit for long periods of time. They enjoy movement and they want to do whatever it is that is being taught.- hands-on projects and fun experiments
- allow them to color or play with a quiet toy while you read aloud
- may need to write down information
- frequent breaks
Visual Learner
Visual learners learn best when they are shown something, they may think in pictures and they do best when they can see what it is they are suppose to do.- teach through demonstration and not oral instruction
- use different colored markers to teach or write
- learn through videos, use graphs and charts
- make their own flash cards
- drawing out their narrations
- The Way They Learn
- The Big What Now Book of Learning Styles: A Fresh and Demystifying Approach
- 101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum – breaks down each curriculum into how it would suit each type of child and their learning style
Oh, you’re so right when you say that you have to figure how you teach! So many times, the boys look at me with blank stares, and I realize that means I need to back up and try again a different way, not just repeat myself!
I’ve had plenty of those blank stares, it’s good if you can come back at it from another angle/method. You never know what will make it click.