How do you Learn?

Learning Styles

As we get ready for the new school year to start up again, we want to help equip you to help you and your child to get the most out of this year of their education! And we believe that can start with knowing your child’s learning style,so that teachers and parents alike can support and encourage children in ways unique to them. Keep reading to discover the main learning styles.

Auditory

Auditory learners do best when they can listen to what is being taught, as well as being able to engage in discussions to process ideas and information. Reading books and looking at diagrams might be a struggle if they haven’t got someone alongside them to explain and process with.

Auditory learners thrive on absorbing information, and being able to discuss it. Engage your child by asking them to explain what they’re doing in class, and allow them time to tell you. To help them process information, try allowing them to talk through it, and record what they’re saying, then write it down. If they struggle to focus on homework at home, try playing some music (classical is often a good study genre) and see if that helps them keep focused.

Kinesthetic/Tactile

Kinesthetic learners want to move! They learn best by experiencing and doing. These learners thrive by having real objects in front of them to ground the theoretical information. Unfortunately, many standard practices in education are not built for kinesthetic/tactile learners.

If you’ve got a kinesthetic/tactile learner – try to get them moving! If they’re learning about a book, or a poem, get them to act it out so that they are in the story. When doing maths, you can use beads or even ripped up bits of paper to move around when working through equations. When some work needs to be written or read, it may even help to give them a spinny chair or exercise ball to sit on, this way they can move about – it may seem distracting for you, but may be just what they need to focus.

Visual

Visual learners love to observe things. They absorb information best through seeing it illustrated or presented in an interesting way. These learners benefit from examples they can watch, and videos that engage them. Visual learners may be the doodlers of the class, and may excel in presenting information in an interesting and creative way.

If you think your child might be a visual learner, there are some great ways to help them focus and achieve their best! When learning a story, let them draw it out – or if they’re working with certain maths like fractions, maybe drawing a pie chart could help them to visualise the numbers. If they struggle to focus at home, it may help to find them a space where they can be alone, or even see if it helps to set books or folders up around their work space, so that they wont be distracted by what other people are doing.

Literary

The great thing about literary learners is that they are naturally wired to absorb information in the way that schools often present it, through reading and writing. Literary learners eat up the written word, so thrive on school work that requires research and written reports.

Even though most school systems do operate in a way that caters to literary learners already, there are still ways to best support them in their learning. Just because a child learns best through reading, doesn’t mean they will be a fast reader, so making sure that your child has time to absorb information is very important. Your literary learner may struggle to process information verbally, but give them a pen and paper and they may be able to get their thoughts out and make sense of things more easily.

What type of learner are you? There is no wrong type of learner. The way your child is wired is wonderful and unique, and is what may contribute to their greatest strengths! We hope that knowing what kind of learner your child is will help you to support them in their future educational endeavours, and to eliminate challenges they may have faced.

You can see more about BrightTeach online: www.brightteach.com