About your child’s learning style
How does your child learn best and under what conditions? The experts tell us that “One size (style) does not fit all.” Most of us have our favourite learning style, but we do use other styles when necessary. The four basic types of learning styles are visual, auditory, tactile and kinaesthetic.
As a parent of two teenagers, I often worried about their studying with music on, doing homework with very little light in the room and sitting on the floor to do their work, but I soon came to learn through my work with gifted students in Canada for 15 years that it was simply their “learning style”. Many effective teachers today really try hard to produce and present materials and resources that will interest and motivate children to learn in ways they are best suited to absorb information and process it.
The following are various settings for learning that your child may favor:
- Dimly lit room, or brightly lit room? (use of colored cellophane on the windows)
- Warm cozy room or windows open for cool breezes?
- Quiet still room, or room filled with music or extraneous noises?
- Straight-backed chair or cozy soft cushions on the floor?
- Study-cards with notes, or visual recall, or accommodations for auditory learners?
- Tactile, kinaesthetic learner?
- Which of Dr Howard Gardner’s seven intelligences best fits your child?
Self-assessment of modality strength or learning style
Keep in mind that “students who have equal modality preferences are more flexible learners and are already using many studying techniques rather than just a few. Three of your five senses are primarily used in learning, storing, remembering and recalling information”.
The following simple Self-Assessment was printed by Incentive Publications, Nashville, Tennessee, but there are many available on the web and are free to take if you want to know how your child learns best and under what circumstances.
Read each question or statement and circle the most appropriate answer (a, b, c) Some will be difficult to answer but try to respond according to how you would react most often.
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
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