Homeschool Fever

Children learn things in many different ways.  While all children carry within them all of the styles below, how a child learns best is his personal “style of learning”. 

When homeschooling your child, you can tailor your approach specifically to how you know your child will best receive the material, bypassing the style that you know will cause his eyes to glaze over with boredom. 

Visual Learner

The visual learner receives information best when he is exposed to thing that evoke the attention of his eyes.  Colorful drawings, moving animations, written words, picture books, maps, globes, and diagrams should be used when teaching concepts to this type of learner.  They tend to be avid “readers” and “observers”.  Often, they’ll need to “see something themselves” (such as a book you’ve just read from) before showing understanding.  Heavy visual learners are great at rote memorization that is written down because of their outstanding photographic memories.

Auditory Learner

These children tend to be the talkers of the bunch,  often asking lots of questions and repeating the answers.  Constant chatter is not useless, but a tool that helps their brains process new concepts.  They have to “hear” it to understand the full meaning.  Reciting aloud anything helps with memorization, and they’d rather listen to a story than read it themselves.  Silly songs and word chants help them learn material best.

 Tactile Learner

“Touching” and “feeling” is what sends information easiest to the brain of this child.  Trees have rough bark?  Don’t just tell him.  Let himfeel it for themselves!  Knew knowledge is processed through fingers, skin, and even toes.  Making 3-d maps for geography, building 3-D puzzles in medieval history, squishing goop for science, and using an abacus in math helps ingrain information best!

Kinesthetic Learner

This child is often referred to as the “doer” or “active learner” in the bunch - he takes in new knowledge through his muscular system.  In some school systems, he may even be labeled as hyperactive or ADD.  Sitting quietly reading printed words is just not his style.  His body must be moving for new knowledge to process correctly.  Field trips, playing, and activities are his learning highlights.  Shorter formal lessons and more breaks are needed for this highly movement-centered learner.  When reading aloud, let him be doing something with his hands or feet (bouncing a ball, playing with trucks, rolling dough) as long as he promises to listen with his ears. 

Remember, just because you learn one way doesn’t mean
your homeschooled child will learn the same way. 
Both you and your child will enjoy daily homeschooling
much more if your lessons are tailored
to suit his personal learning style - and not yours!