Imagine a scene in a biology class. The teacher is presenting a new unit on dissection and that day's class assignment involves learning how to dissect a frog. The visual learners will want the teacher to give a demonstration, show diagrams, slides or posters. The auditory learners will best succeed by listening to the teacher talk about the process and describe what to expect. The kinesthetic learners will want to hold the scalpel, explore the body of the frog and learn as they go. If a student is not aware of their learning style and the teacher begins the lesson with any style other than theirs, they are in danger of tuning out or could assume they "don't get it. A kid who knows how they best learn may wait patiently through the verbal explanation until they get the scalpel in their hand or glance at the charts and diagrams but focus more on asking questions and listening to the verbal explanations.
Let me be clear and give my opinion now that none of this is to say kids can't learn in a style outside of their preference - in fact, it's important to strengthen the ways that don't come as easily. Most kids will be taking a standard written college entrance test at some point and they can't really ask future employers to please write their questions down in their interview because they just aren't auditory learners. This is not about providing excuses or placing blame on teachers who aren't teaching to your child's learning style. It's about helping kids to become aware of how they process information which then builds confidence and allows them to grow as life long learners.
If you and your child are armed with the knowledge of their learning style, there are simple things you can do to help your child get off on the right foot when working on homework. Auditory learners will benefit from discussing the directions before beginning an assignment and will study well with oral review or quizzing. Our 7 year old is an auditory learner and already loves to make up little songs or rhymes to remember things. He will be the high school history student who makes up a rap to remember the battles of World War II. Our older son is a visual learner and moves S.L.O.W.L.Y. because he's paying ATTENTION to details. We didn't know he was reading when he first learned because he never sounded anything out aloud. He just read. Highlighting text really helps him when studying and he hates spelling words out loud, he'd rather just look at them. Your visual learner will really grasp information from maps, charts, or diagrams. If you have a kid who likes to talk, read, or study while bouncing a ball or rocking in a chair you have a kinesthetic learner. Although most kids benefit from hands on learning, these students really need math manipulatives and alphabet magnets. Our daughter literally does handstands while reading. Weird we know, but it works for her.
As adults we have our own preferences as to how we receive or communicate information. Many times we want to teach our children in a way that makes sense to us. My friend and fabulous 2nd grade teacher, Cheryl Jacobs, offers great advice to parents helping their young kids with homework. "As parents, you need to not only know your child's learning style, but your own as well. Many an argument can be prevented if you have this information. Armed with the knowledge of both learning styles, you will be more effective working with your child on homework. Hopefully, this will lead to less arguments and tears during homework time." For both kids and adults, understanding your learning style helps you learn, reason, and communicate more effectively.
Learning styles extend beyond the classroom and are related to how you learn a new skill. A few summers ago when Darrin and I were learning how to wakeboard, our learning styles played a part in the lessons from our friends. My husband gladly listened to verbal explanations of what would happen when he was on the board while I couldn't help but tune out soon after, "Hold the rope like this..." Even watching someone else on the water wasn't super helpful - I'm a kinesthetic learner - just let me get on the board and feel out how it works.
When Caroline started middle school this year, her math teacher had the class take a learning style inventory and now sometimes teaches them in groups based on their learning strengths. What a great teacher! I'm sure she's maximized the potential of all her students.
If you don't know your learning style, take this quiz together with your child and discover how you best take in and process information. Learning is life long and we can all continue to grow in our discovery of new experiences and knowledge.
Let me be clear and give my opinion now that none of this is to say kids can't learn in a style outside of their preference - in fact, it's important to strengthen the ways that don't come as easily. Most kids will be taking a standard written college entrance test at some point and they can't really ask future employers to please write their questions down in their interview because they just aren't auditory learners. This is not about providing excuses or placing blame on teachers who aren't teaching to your child's learning style. It's about helping kids to become aware of how they process information which then builds confidence and allows them to grow as life long learners.
If you and your child are armed with the knowledge of their learning style, there are simple things you can do to help your child get off on the right foot when working on homework. Auditory learners will benefit from discussing the directions before beginning an assignment and will study well with oral review or quizzing. Our 7 year old is an auditory learner and already loves to make up little songs or rhymes to remember things. He will be the high school history student who makes up a rap to remember the battles of World War II. Our older son is a visual learner and moves S.L.O.W.L.Y. because he's paying ATTENTION to details. We didn't know he was reading when he first learned because he never sounded anything out aloud. He just read. Highlighting text really helps him when studying and he hates spelling words out loud, he'd rather just look at them. Your visual learner will really grasp information from maps, charts, or diagrams. If you have a kid who likes to talk, read, or study while bouncing a ball or rocking in a chair you have a kinesthetic learner. Although most kids benefit from hands on learning, these students really need math manipulatives and alphabet magnets. Our daughter literally does handstands while reading. Weird we know, but it works for her.
As adults we have our own preferences as to how we receive or communicate information. Many times we want to teach our children in a way that makes sense to us. My friend and fabulous 2nd grade teacher, Cheryl Jacobs, offers great advice to parents helping their young kids with homework. "As parents, you need to not only know your child's learning style, but your own as well. Many an argument can be prevented if you have this information. Armed with the knowledge of both learning styles, you will be more effective working with your child on homework. Hopefully, this will lead to less arguments and tears during homework time." For both kids and adults, understanding your learning style helps you learn, reason, and communicate more effectively.
Learning styles extend beyond the classroom and are related to how you learn a new skill. A few summers ago when Darrin and I were learning how to wakeboard, our learning styles played a part in the lessons from our friends. My husband gladly listened to verbal explanations of what would happen when he was on the board while I couldn't help but tune out soon after, "Hold the rope like this..." Even watching someone else on the water wasn't super helpful - I'm a kinesthetic learner - just let me get on the board and feel out how it works.
When Caroline started middle school this year, her math teacher had the class take a learning style inventory and now sometimes teaches them in groups based on their learning strengths. What a great teacher! I'm sure she's maximized the potential of all her students.
If you don't know your learning style, take this quiz together with your child and discover how you best take in and process information. Learning is life long and we can all continue to grow in our discovery of new experiences and knowledge.
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