What is your child’s learning style?
Why. Does it matter?
Yes. In order to get the best out of your children in terms of learning and retention. It is useful to help them work out what type of learner they are.
Let’s explain.
We all have different learning styles. That means we all have a preference as to how we learn. Most people are a mixture of at least two styles. They are:-
Visual Learner
The picture above is an example of a visual learner. This means that the learner needs graphics and a visual representation to understand what they learn. Put simply, they need to be able to visualise their thoughts on paper. They use of colour, symbols, and pictures increase a visual learners ability to maximise the retention of a topic or a subject. Watching television or media clips often help a visual learner too. A visual learners favourite subjects in school, college or university are often: Art, Textiles, Graphic or Computer Aided Design
Auditory Learner
As the name suggests, an auditory learner needs to hear explanations of what they are learning. For example, if your child is an auditory learner; they need to be able to listen to instructions, listen to music to help them concentrate and focus and verbalise their thoughts in order to remember the content of the lesson. Auditory learners will benefit from wearing headphones and listening to music especially when they are doing homework or projects. An auditory learners favourite subjects in school, college or university are: Music, Drama and Media/Film Studies
Kinesthetic Learner
Kinesthetic learners need to move about in order to process their thoughts. As a result many children who are kinesthetic learners in a classroom will get told off for moving around or getting out of their seat. These children will often be seen twiddling with pens or their hair and looking out the window. To a non-kinesthetic learner this behaviour will look like they are not focusing on the task in hand; when in fact movement will help these learners, but may distract others. A kinesthetic learners favourite subjects at school, college or university are: Physical Education (PE) and Sports Science
Retrospective Learners
Children who are retrospective learners have a strong preference to read around the subject they are learning and write notes about the subject. This enables them to digest the information, (to take it in and analyse it). Once again, the sheer act of writing notes or rewriting information in a students own words can help you child to conceptulise the learning and reflect on their notes at a later date and process the information and learning activity. A retrospective learners favourite school, college or university subjects are: English Language, English Literature, History, Sociology or Psychology
If you are not sure what type of learner your child is, over the next few days or weeks; encourage your child to experiment with different ways of studying and taking notes in order to figure out what kind of learning suits them best.
If you have more than one child, they will not necessarily have the same learning style as their siblings. So, the learning approach that will work for one child will not work for another. This is perfectly natural. And, once we find the approach that works for each child, you will be able to maximise each child’s learning potential.
Adults also have different learning styles which are the same as above. Why don’t you try out the learning styles yourself and see what works for you too?
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