There are many different approaches to learning and studying which may suit your child more or less. It is important to learn which learning method suits your child the best and help them perfect it.
Your child’s school plays an important role in determining, developing, and advancing your child’s learning style. If you feel like the school isn’t doing its best, you can consult Pacific Coast Advocates, an organization to help families with special needs children resolve problems with schools and school districts.
What Are Learning Styles?
There are numerous ways one can adopt some knowledge, depending on their aptitude, abilities, and motivation. These learning styles are correlated to different scores in the multiple intelligences tests. According to the modern interpretation, there are seven different bits of intelligence that work in unison.
Depending on the degree to which one has developed a certain facet of intelligence, it will be easier or more difficult to adopt a certain learning strategy.
Auditory Learners
Some students adopt a lot of the knowledge by listening to the information spoken to them once or several times. These learners generally don’t like writing as much and should be encouraged to learn to play an instrument if possible.
Remembering things comes to them better when it is in the form of a song or a rhyme, which can be an effective way to create reminders and learn in general.
Visual Learners
These learners focus primarily on the images and diagrams to learn just about anything. They have no problems visualizing objects and potential future outcomes, which is a useful skill.
Colors can be a great ally for these students, so they should try to incorporate as much color coding as possible.
Linguistic Learners
These learners are skilled at using words, both in written and in oral form. They typically enjoy reading and may attempt writing themselves.
These learners are very good at remembering words and mnemonic devices, which may be the easiest approach to learning. Writing down things that they need to remember is also particularly effective and very useful.
Kinesthetic Learners
Also known as physical learners, these learners like to use the sense of touch to experience the world, i.e., they like practical work a lot more than theory. When communicating their ideas, these learners will use a lot more gestures than other learner types.
These learners typically don’t like sitting for extended periods of time and enjoy acting out scenarios, which helps them cement their knowledge and confidence.
Logical Learners
Also known as mathematical learners, these individuals are good at recognizing patterns and discerning how things work. They are also very good with numbers and calculations, which helps them be systematic and precise.
These students can apply their analytical skills to tackle just about any problem, making them really versatile and successful learners.
Social vs. Solitary Learners
Until now, this division’s main focus was the sense, which is dominantly used to learn. However, there is another important aspect to consider – whether the learner is more comfortable participating in group learning, i.e., a social learner, or if they prefer gaining knowledge on their own, i.e., a solitary learner.
Combinations
More often than not, your child will associate with more than one style of learning. Most students find themselves somewhere in two relatively similar learner types, like auditory and linguistic or kinesthetic and visual. This can help them in learning, as they can employ more different strategies for learning different subjects.
Teachers need to consider the strengths and weaknesses of all individual students to give all children the equal opportunity to grow and learn.
