Today we’re going to explore the topic of Discovering your Child’s Learning Style! This is a part of our So, You Want to Homeschool Series!
It’s NO secret that our kids are all different. It’s amazing how different kids can be, even in the same family. This shows me that there’s a creative Creator!
Before you get going on your school year, it’s good to pause and look at your overall goals. One of those goals is probably to teach each of your children in the most effective way possible so they’ll learn. But how do you know which way is the best way when they’re all so different?
Discovering your Child’s Learning Style
You have a huge benefit when you homeschool your own children because you KNOW them very well. You quite possibly know them better than anyone else. Use that to your advantage! “How?” you might ask. Well, let’s dive in!
1. What are the Learning Styles?
First, let’s talk about what this all means. A learning style is the way in which people best process, make meaning of, or remember the things they’ve been taught.
Traditionally, we focus on three main ways to learn:
1. Visual Learners – they learn by SEEING IT
2. Auditory Learners – they learn by HEARING IT
3. Kinesthetic Learners – they learn by DOING IT
{Download this checklist at the END of this post.}
2. How do I Discover my Child’s Learning Style?
It’s great to know about the three main learning styles, but how do you know which one(s) fit your kids? Here are some things you can look for. Please note that these ideas do not represent every child.
Your child might be a Visual Learner if…
- Your child prefers you to write things down so they can remember better. {like a to-do list}
- It helps if you draw pictures to help your child understand things.
- Your child has good spatial sense.
- Your child talks about the pictures in his/her head. {visualizing}
Your child might be an Auditory Learner if…
- When you give your child verbal directions, they can follow them easily.
- Your child can often repeat back things they’ve heard you say {or things they’ve heard on a movie/TV}.
- Your child loves listening to music.
- Your child is often humming or singing a song.
Your child might be a Kinesthetic Learner if…
- Your child is active and prefers to move, even if they’re not into sports.
- Your child touches things often {even breakable things in a store}.
- Your child enjoys sports.
- Your child has great hand-eye coordination.
3. Why do Learning Styles Even Matter?
If you know that your child is bent towards a particular learning style, this will affect how you teach your child. I’ll demonstrate with a few examples:
- For a visual learner, grab a dry erase board and marker to draw and SHOW the information on graphic organizer like we did with our Expanded Form Learning Mat
- For an auditory learner, you can learn important concepts through a rhyme or jingle.
- For a kinesthetic learner, you’ll want your child to use the board and marker to work the math problem instead of just talking through the steps.
4. Can my child have more than one style?
Yes! Yes! and Yes! While your child will typically have a prominent one, most people have more than one preferred style.
This means that while you’ll want to be sure to teach your child learn using their prominent learning style, the most effective way to teach is to MIX ALL THREE as often as possible. This is called multisensory teaching.
We have TONS of free printables on This Reading Mama that work well to integrate all three learning styles. For example, in our Fishing with Sight Words activity, learners SEE the sight words, MOVE as they fish, and SAY the words out loud. Find even more multisensory sight word activities in our post 20 EASY Ways to Practice Sight Words.
You may even enjoy our series on Multisensory Teaching for Reading.
Find all the posts in our Homeschool Series!
Enjoy teaching!
~Becky
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