Posted on 02/08/2017
As you consider your and your child’s dominant learning style, make sure you understand that it’s not something set in stone. It’s something formed (and potentially re-formed) over time. Your learning style was probably somewhat shaped by the way material was presented to you during your school years and beyond. Not only have you probably chosen your career somewhat based on your learning style, but your career has likely also continued to shape your learning style over time. Keep that in mind as you work with your child.
Identifying Gaps
Once you’ve identified your dominant learning style(s) as well as your child’s, you may realize why you sometimes have breakdowns in communication: You probably think differently. Not only is there likely to be a gap between how you learn best and how your child learns best, but there may also be a gap between your child’s dominant learning style and the way material is most often presented in the classroom.
While educational methods have definitely come a long way, traditional education still caters to Verbal/Linguistic learners. Visual and Physical learners are receiving more “allowances,” such as standing desks or fidget toys, and sometimes Solitary learners are allowed to take tests in quiet areas, free from distractions from their peers. As you realize the ways that your child’s formal education may be disconnected with your child’s dominant learning style, you can help bridge the gap.
Tailoring Material
Tailoring the material to your child’s learning style may be more difficult, depending on your personal bent and that of the resources provided by your child’s school — as well as the specific discipline at hand. For instance, memorizing a musical piece may come naturally to your aural learner, while math facts fail to “stick.” If you’re not creative in this area, you can purchase CDs like these by ShillerMath or look up YouTube videos like this one to help your child memorize math facts.
Geography might automatically connect with your Visual learner, but for your Physical learner, attaching movement to a concept can prove far more helpful than simply looking at a map. So instead of quizzing your child on the countries of Europe as you point to them on a map, you could have your child be the one to point, stand on part of a giant map like those available here, or practice drawing it.
Expanding Styles
While it may help your child to understand or memorize a particular set of information in his or her dominant learning style, using an additional style will help your child use more of his or her brain in processing information — which will be helpful in two ways. First, by simply involving more areas of the brain in the learning process, the content will become more memorable. Second, by training the brain to process material with less dominant methods, your child will be more easily able to assimilate material presented (i.e. taught in the classroom) using a style that doesn’t come as naturally to him or her.
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