Understanding Your Child’s Learning Style
Getting to grips with your child’s learning style is a vital part of supporting them in their education. As they progress through their school career, you may begin to see where they have weaknesses and strengths, and this is when you will wonder why they’re good at some things but not at others.
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Different learning styles are generally categorised like this:
Visual leaners
Auditory learners
Tactile learners
Kinaesthetic leaners
Each type has its own strengths and weaknesses. Knowing which type your child represents a considerable weapon when it comes to beating the lack of confidence which can develop in children who sense they’re not as strong as some of their peers in certain areas.
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Let’s look at the different types and you will probably recognise your child in one of them:
Visual Learners: These children, as the title suggests, learn much through looking and through watching. They like to see things demonstrated; they gain much through visual aids. You can help visual learners by using a whiteboard or videos to let them pick up new ideas easily.
Visual learners are often very imaginative and can be great in the arts.
Auditory learners: These learners like to hear things explained. They do well in lectures and can often summarise an entire lecture in just a few notes. They thrive when working in groups and are good orators and often excellent debaters.
Tactile learners: Practical skills are often strong with these children. You will find that these children do well when they are allowed to touch as they learn. Rather than explaining how a maths problem works, they like to experience it.
Kinaesthetic learners: These are the most practical of all children and are usually highly energetic and need to experience a new concept with their whole body. Teaching a child like this how to play chess on a typical board will be a long process – they’d pick it up better on a giant board which they could run around!
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How to help your child
The best method of learning your child’s style, is to watch them as they engage in something they really enjoy. A typical visual learner for example, will love to look at art, make art and observe the world around them. Kinaesthetic learners are usually in constant motion.
Supporting your child is as easy as providing them with experiences which will allow them to lean on their strengths no matter what the subject. For visual learners, trips to the science museum will give them inspiration, for auditory learners, podcasts and radio programmes will help them in many ways.
How to help your child grow in other areas
Now you have learned which style fits your child, you can begin to help them grow in other areas. Strengthening their weaker areas is vital. Try some of the following:
Dance classes or horse-riding for less active children
Engaging physical children in lots of conversation
Arts and crafts for all children
A child who is given plenty of opportunities will thrive and grow in many areas. The best schools work on the basis that every child begins from a different academic starting point and so challenges should be varied and interesting.
Children should also be encouraged to try to understand their own weaknesses and strengths. This private school in Barnet for example, gives each child the right tools to analyse their own performance. This is something all children can benefit from, no matter what their learning style.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.