Posts Tagged ‘learning styles’
Children are different – so should be how we teach them!
Anyone with more than one child can compare and contrast their children. They may have similar mannerisms yet opposing interests and sometimes you may wonder how two could have sprung from the same womb! Children are different, they have different interests, different focuses and different learning styles. So too, must the teaching style for them be different.
My first child was pretty easy to homeschool. He was a book kid, loved worksheets and would sit for hours working on a project. My second child is not as keen of a reader, would prefer not to have to write and won’t sit for hours to do anything. These differences are not a variance in intelligence, just in how and what they learn.
With both children, one of the main things I did was teach what interested them. My eldest son studied Medieval history at least five times. Each time had a different focus, an increased measure of learning and new projects to work on. The younger son enjoyed Medieval History as long as he was reading about knights, catapults and the siege of a castle, but really only wanted to study it once. And so, while one child created graphs about the plague, the other crafted medieval weapons from cardboard, tinfoil and duct tape. Since each activity was premised with a discussion or reading about the time period the history lesson was still being taught, just in different styles.
The older child struggled a bit with math, but when lessons involved money, things made sense! And so, many math lessons allowed counting, converting and problem solving with money. The youngest struggled with geography but enjoyed cooking. So, we travelled the world learning about common foods and recipes found in the various countries.
Free yourself from the “typical” school regime, especially with a more active, reluctant student. Create lessons through field trips, music, crafts, athletics and unit studies that fill the needs of each student. This encourages them to learn because they enjoy the subject, and the manner with which it is taught!
Back to School Tips – Learning Styles!
As you get ready to start a new year of lessons make sure you are aware of all your children’s learning styles. There are three main learning styles Auditory (hearing), Visual (seeing) and Kinetic (doing). A child can be strong in one particular style or a combination of two styles.
It is important to understand a child’s learning style so that you can find the best way to teach to them. Of course it is important to develop all the learning styles in a child but especially necessary to teach to their learning style on a subject that they struggle with.
Be creative with your lesson plans so that each learning style is practiced. This is especially helpful when teaching more than one child the same topic. Use manipulatives in math, science and spelling class (for kinetic learners), Read stories out loud or use music to accompany lessons (for audio learners) and use pictures and colour codes to help the visual learner.
If you want to find out your child’s learning style, download this free questionnaire.
Helping your child succeed!
There are many definitions for success. My focus, is to have the child do well, enjoy the challenge and want to keep learning and improving -to me, that is homeschooling success.
Helping your child achieve this success can be a combination of words, thoughts and motivations. Encouraging words can go a long way to help anyone succeed. Point out improvements, creativity and proper behaviour. Keep your comments and words positive rather than negative. If you are marking a test or projects, use only checkmarks – if things are wrong they can be discussed afterward but without writing X’s on the page. Discussion about the tests, the project or any other work or behaviour can lead to positive reinforcement and an understanding of what would have been a better answer or action.
It is important to think before addressing a child’s behaviour or poor work. Think about what influences may have led to the problem, what behaviours they may be copying or what challenges they have faced recently that may be affecting them. We can recognize that everyone has bad days, bad moments and bad judgements. A child that is learning must also be taught appropriate behaviours, reactions etc in order for them to interact appropriately.
Understanding a child’s learning style is also an important step to their success. Recognizing how they learn best and then helping them learn using that style will not only help them learn but give them confidence to continue to do well. Understanding that children learn differently and at different paces will help you provide proper encouragement and lessons for each child. Motivating them to work hard, challenging them to stretch their abilities and encouraging them to keep trying are all great influences to provide them.
Of course, the world is not as encouraging as we are and at times children will run into negative people and influences. It is important to teach them how to deal with these challenges as well. Face negativity with confidence so that it doesn’t have a devastating affect. Remove yourself from situations that are degrading and negatively charged. And discuss any issues or problems they have faced that has troubled them.
Positive thoughts, words and motivations are the key steps to homeschooling success!
Mneumonics – helping kids remember
Mneumonics are memory aids. They can be rhymes, acrostics, acronyms and other devices to help remember key facts. They are especially helpful to auditory learners.
Remember the rhyme about Christopher Columbus we learned in school? In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue. I will always remember the year he discovered America thanks to this rhyme.
What if you needed to know the line up of planets from the Sun? Create a sentence using the first letter of each planet to start a word in the sentence. For example: My Very Excited Mom Just Started Using New Pillows. The first letter of each word in the sentence represents the planets and all the words in the sentence show us the order of the planets. This is a good technique to help remember the order of many different things.
Acronym is an abbreviation of several words in such a way that the abbreviation itself forms a pronounceable word. For example SCUBA stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. This is another way you can use to help remember important things – such as the Great Lakes – use the acronym HOMES to identify Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.
Mneumonics are fun to use to show differences in similar words. Stalactites and Stalagmites are similar words, both representing formations of rock within a cave. StalaGmites has a G in it so it represents the one that grows from the Ground and StalacTites grow from the Top.
Encourage children to make up their own rhymes, acrostics, acronyms or other memory aids – they will remember them better that way.
Homeschooling can get costly when you are buying all the books and materials needed for the lessons. But when it comes to math manipulatives, all you have to do is look around your house!
Manipulatives are defined as “any of various objects designed to be moved or arranged by hand as a means of developing motor skills or understanding abstractions, especially in mathematics.” Using manipulatives in math can help explain tough concepts. Also, manipulatives are a great teaching tool to use for kinesthetic (hands-on) learners. Geometry manipulatives are easy to find around the house, just look for specific shapes – tin can (cylinder), sugar cube, book (rectangle) and the like. Counting manipulatives are also easy to find as you can use anything that you have a bunch of – marshmallows, paperclips, toilet rolls and more. Sorting and graphing manipulatives can be anything that differs in colour or shape – different coloured paper clips, beads or buttons or even cereal.
Before you spend the money on fancy math manipulatives, look around the house and see what there is you can use for free!
Most homeschoolers will have been asked the same questions over and over about homeschooling. Is that legal? What about socialization? How can you teach them with your education? and much more.
Here are a few answers to those frequently asked questions to help those not so familiar with homeschooling understand and to help those just starting field those ever present questions.
Homeschooling is legal. The law states that children must receive adequate education – we provide more than adequate education for our children. Each area will have different rules and regulations for those who homeschool so make sure you check those and follow them so that no issues are raised.
Socialization is not really taught in public school, but as homeschoolers we can offer a chance for our children to socialize with other children of various ages. Many areas have homeschool groups that can provide chances for socialization, chances for field trips and more. Also, there are groups like 4H, Scouting, Guiding and more that can offer more socialization experiences for homeschooled children.
You don’t need a teaching degree to homeschool your children. You need to be able to read ahead, understand the lesson and acknowledge your child’s learning style so that you can better teach to them. What is nice about homeschooling is that you can often learn along with the child on topics they may not have taught in public school.
Don’t be afraid of questions about homeschooling – be proud of your choice and answer them truthfully!
Learning Styles – Teaching so they can learn
Knowing your child’s learning style is important so that you know how to teach them the best way they can learn.
Some kids need to hear the lessons (auditory learners), some need to see it (visual learners) and some need to be involved in the lesson (kinesthetic learners). Knowing which style is their strongest will help you know how to teach each lesson. Although it is good to teach each learning style so that kid’s can strenghten each one, it is best to teach to their learning style on subjects they are less familiar with or struggling with. To find out the learning style of your child, just fill out a learning styles questionnaire about them.