One of the reasons we chose the Montessori pre-school for the girls was that they look at how different children learn and work with the child’s talents. When I was at school you just had to do as you were told and learn the way all others learnt. This looks like it has changed, it is good that differences are being acknowledged. Today I saw an article about “Your child’s learning style” on Fairfax’s Essential Kids website.
This article on essential kids looks at all different styles, the below list is taken from the article:
1. Visual learner – These children enjoy drawing, colouring, puzzles and creative art. They need to “see” information to learn best.
2. Verbal learner – These children love listening to stories and may learn to talk at an earlier age. They follow verbal instructions easily and love to talk.
3. Tactile learner – These children enjoy getting “a feel” of different materials. They like to be shown how to do things.
4. Kinaesthetic learner – These children, like tactile learners enjoy learning through touch, but they also learn by “movement and sensory interaction”. They may learn better if movement is incorporated into the lesson.
Just thinking about the girls style without study, they are visual and verbal more, I think they have a bit of all of the styles in their learning. I will need to observe them more during the day and see which one is the more dominant.
There are great links that are mentioned in this article on essential kids. Here are some of them:
- Understanding and supporting your child’s learning style, by Ian Wallace
- Kids learning is fun – E course about different learning styles
- Learning links – Can help if your child has learning difficulties
- De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats – Helps practical thinking
What do you think your learning style is? I think I am visual and verbal. I love images and art, this would obviously explain why I ended up creating films and studying film/tv production. Understanding what your strengths are, can really help doing well with other areas of your life and learning especially.
According to this article schools are teaching in all different styles, making sure children are able to learn to their strengths. I applaud this and hope that it helps kids excel at school and life.
Have you found your learning style for yourself or your child? Has this led to you or your child getting better results at work or school? Has it been a wonderful discovery? Has it helped if your child, or yourself, have issues learning? Send in your comments.
