I read about learning styles last week on http://www.babycentre.com/ and heard it mentioned at a talk at the Parent Support Group last Saturday. A child's learning style, though is not set in stone and may change over time.
There are 2 kinds of visual learners: picture learners and print learners, with most kids being a mixture of both. Picture learners think in images while print learners think in words. Print learners quickly learn to read and can easily memorise the spelling of words. They like to practice writing and forming letters.
A visual learner learns faster if ideas or concepts are taught in a visual manner. For e.g. when teaching maths, he'll learn faster if he watches the teacher solve the problem on the blackboard or sees himself solve the problem with concrete materials.
An auditory learner learns better if he listens to the teacher explain it and answers the childs questions.
A physical learner does better if he uses an abascus, blocks etc to learn the maths concept.
Knowing your son's learning style is just the first step. What's more important is how you leverage on that.
I've suspected from an early age that my son has a good visual memory. He definitely does not have photographic memory but his visual learning is his most obvious among the 2 styles. I have many boxes of homemade picture cards; a few posters for sticking on the wall; homemade cut outs of numbers in many styles; a few sets of alphabets and numbers; a small drawer full of various educational VCDs (I know, it's been advised that kids younger than 2 should not watch TV, but it really helped him); lots of different types of books; and various homemade activities.
The article from babycenter suggests to provide the child the materials he needs to learn & indulge his interests. Examples:
- if he likes games, use card games to sharpen his memory and concentration skills
- have lots of books available
- visual learners may benefit from educational TV, though it's not recommended for all kids
- spend lots of time going over the alphabet if he likes letters and words
I believe in multi-sensory learning as I think that enhances the learning of the subject. In the article, it quites an expert as saying that it's crucial that parents work with multiple senses as well so the kid becomes more rounded & use various strategies to grasp new information.
I have various activities to stimulate his physical learning too, especially because he has gross and fine motor disabilities. For e.g. when teaching him patterns I also use of his wooden blocks or pieces of Mega Bloks & not just the homemade printed strips stuck on cardboard.
To strengthen his auditory skills, the article advised to encourage them to listen to music & accompany verbal directions with visual cues. When I teach him how to cross the road safely, I point left when asking him to look left, then point right when asking him to look right etc.
I like the fact that the article included this paragraph: "In the end, what mattres most is that you nuture and support your child's learning, no matter what his style. Follow his lead & focus not on how great he's becoming at certain subjects but how great he is in general. Good parenting counts most as it's essential for learning and discovery."
For the article on visual learning, which also has links to other learning styles:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_the-visual-learner_1381276.bc
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