Getting Started with Homeschooling
Practical Considerations for Parents of School-Aged Children
© Beverley Paine
Index
Homeschool
Australia
Learning Styles
All children have their own preferred learning styles. Try and find out what your children's are as learning style has an enormous impact on the ability to absorb and process and ultimately use information. Tailoring activities to suit children's individual styles can eliminate many of the problems associated with unhappy learning experiences and perceived learning 'problems'.
Some children are visual learners, able to easily recall in clear images words, pictures or numbers. Others prefer auditory learning, remembering tunes, or spoken information, and respond well to conversation or being given oral directions. Another group may show a preference for spatial (kinesthetic) learning, always physically on the move, singing, dancing or acting out what they are learning.
Finding the right approach to match your child's learning style ensures greater success and less frustration for both of you. If you child is a spontaneous learner they will rebel against a highly structured routing. Some children prefer to focus on specific concepts; others are able to take amore global approach. Find out as much as you can about learning styles, including your own. Don't assume your children learn the same way you do, or in the same way you did when you were at school.
Understanding how children learn is essential to good educational programming. Children learn in a variety of ways. They imitate, copying what other children and adults do. They investigate all manner of things mysterious to them - exercising their innate curious natures. They learn visually by looking at things, they learn by listening, and by moving and doing. They spend a lot of time doing, making and manipulating things, repeating their actions over and over until satisfied. They consult many different sources of information - people, books, etc., to find out things they don't know or want to know more about. They listen attentively, enjoying stories, music - any noise at all sometimes! In other words, they learn by their own activity and experience. As parents interested in promoting their education, you will use and recognize all of these ways. In doing so you not only become effective educators, but better parents too.
 previous page |
Excerpt from Getting Started with Homeschooling, Practical Considerations
© Beverley Paine, 1997
