When your child knows what their learning style is and how to use this to their advantage, they can be empowered to be themselves and succeed.
This
series is an introduction to what a learning style is and how to use it to your
advantage.
Each
child is unique, with their own set of characteristics, strengths and
weaknesses. Helping a child to identify his or her strengths and weaknesses is
important so that they know what they can work with and build on and what they
should avoid.
A
learning style is one of these strengths. It is the way the each individual
child takes in and processes information best. If information is taken in and
processed effectively, it is more easily retrieved (remembered).
There
are many different theories about what the different learning styles are and how
many there are, however, we will use a model of 3 learning styles: the Visual Learner, the Auditory Learner and the Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner.
Children
learn in all of these ways, but tend to be more inclined towards one or two of
these particular learning styles. This means that while children experience information
in all of these ways, they tend to take in and process information better if it is given to them in the
style that their brain tends to prefer.
Here is
a very simple example:
In a
classroom setting, the teacher talks about the concept of fractions. She shows
them an example of this by cutting an apple into various fractions. Then, she
draws pictures with accompanying numbers to show how the numbers and reality
work together. She hands out a worksheet to be cut and pasted in their books.
Finally, she asks the learners to complete their worksheet and allows them work
with their partners if they would like to.
The
information about fractions has been given in a very visual and auditory way –
children see the apple being cut up, they see the pictures and numbers
written on the board, they’ve heard her speaking about the information.
The task
they’ve been given is largely visual as well, but it contains elements of
tactile and auditory learning: The children must cut their worksheet out
and paste it in their books, they also have to write answers and draw
or colour in pictures on the worksheet. These are tactile things, even
though the children is not necessarily moving around too much. They have also
been given the option to talk with their friends about the information.
This is an auditory process.
All of the
children have encountered the same lesson, but if you ask them what they
remember the most, you will get different answers because some parts of the
lesson resonate more deeply with each individual child than other parts do. This
is rooted in the child’s learning style.
In the
next few posts we’ll discuss each learning style in more detail with some more
tips on how to use it to your advantage, taking in and processing information
more effectively so that it can be retrieved in the future.
