Learning Styles - the smart parents' choice for smart children

A Learning Style is the optimal way in which a child concentrates, learns new concepts and memorises information.

Learning Styles are more than Left-Brain / Right Brain

You will find many “tests” on the Internet, tests that promise to tell you whether your child’s left brain or right brain is dominant. That’s not a Learning Style, that’s just Information Processing.

Learning Styles are more than VAK

You will also find assessments that tell you whether your child is visual, auditory or kinesthetic. But will they make a distinction between visual as in watching (TV, other children) or visual as in reading (instructions, textbooks) or visual as in visualising the new material in their imagination? Will they check whether “kinesthetic” actually means external, internal or tactile?

Please see our LSA Pyramid for a complete list of the sensory modalities which may form your child’s learning preferences.

What You Can Do

Does your child think best in the morning or in the afternoon? Do they need a formal area in which to study? Will they learn quicker if they listen to soft learning music? Have a look here to find out.

Learning Styles and “Finding Nemo”

Hands up who remembers the blue fish Dory from “Finding Nemo”? The one who suffers from a short-term memory loss? (“I forget things almost instantly. It runs in my family! Well I mean... at least... I think it does. Hum... Where are they? ... Can I help you?”)

Have you ever wondered why she can’t remember anything? Or rather, she can’t remember anything she hears, and yet she has no trouble remembering how to read? In fact the only thing Dory can remember throughout the movie is the address label she’s read: “P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney”; and she only recognises Nemo’s name when she reads a prompt?

Those of you who know about Learning Styles already understand where I’m going with this one: some students learn better by listening, others by reading, others yet by doing or watching.

Of course, a person’s learning is not constrained to the senses. For optimal learning and memorising conditions, you need to take into account information processing, the learning environment, the time of day and many other factors.

Have a look at a sample Learning Style Report to see learning preferences in action.

(Some trivia about the movie “Finding Nemo”, from the IMDB website:

• Factual errors: When the fish are in bags and the bags are in the ocean, the bags should float with their inner water level at just about the same level as the surface of the ocean.
• Factual errors: Marlin and Dory are advised to swim to the back of the whale's throat and then are blown out of the whale's blowhole. This is not physically possible as whales mouths and digestive systems are not connected to their respiratory system and blowhole.
• Factual errors: Coral should be bigger than Marlin. Female clownfish are always bigger than their mates.)

WSA and the Right Person for the Job

In today's competitive market, it's not enough to hire someone: you have to find the right person for the job. Recruitment is a delicate balance between art and science, with interviews and psychometric tests not always resulting in a perfect match.

Based on many years of international experience, we can offer an innovative solution: Working Style Analysis (WSA), a unique online tool that’s invaluable when recruiting new staff or evaluating existing employees.

WSA aids in assessing applicants for a new job or position by analysing Working Style features that cannot be ascertained reliably through interviews or psychometric testing. These biological and conditioned style features include:

• how they perform under stress;
• whether they can cope with night shifts or noisy environments;
• how well they can work unsupervised, by themselves or in a team;
• whether they are detail-oriented, creative, big-picture oriented, fast or slow decision making, using gut feeling or logic;
• what motivates them;
• how responsible and communicative they are;
• their attitude to rules and authority;
• how they deal with difficult information and solve problems;
• how best to manage them.

Applying the findings of the WSA tool in everyday corporate life leads to more effective management and leadership, based on Diversity principles.

Buy your own WSA assessment today to find out why you are the right person for your job.

Is Empathy Helping or Hurting Your Career?

By Judith Orloff, MD
(Adapted from "Emotional Freedom")

AM I AN EMPATH?
- Have I been labeled by coworkers as "too emotional" or overly sensitive?
- If a co-worker is distraught, does it affect my mood at work?
- Are my feelings easily hurt when a supervisor or peer delivers negative feedback?
- Am I emotionally drained when I have to work closely with others, and do I require time alone to revive? (see footnote 1)
- Do my nerves get frayed by office noise, machine noise, smells, or excessive talking? (see footnote 2)
- Do I prefer working quietly and off by myself? (see footnote 1 and footnote 2)
- Do I overeat or need a happy hour cocktail to deal with work-related stress? (see footnote 3)

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you're at least part empath. Responding yes to more than three indicates that you're quite sensitive and empathic.

THE EMPATH'S UPSIDE AT WORK
You are big hearted, and big-hearted people are gifted helpers and mentors. Empaths are patient, kind, and compassionate--just what you need as a manager, trainer, or team leader.

You are passionate, and passionate people put their all into projects. Empathetic people are passionate about their beliefs and ideas. In creative roles, or as sales or marketing people, passion is a plus.

You are intuitive, and intutive people can read between the lines. Empaths often perceive gray areas in a discussion or sense unspoken tension in meetings. Their ability to read others' feelings is a critical skill in negotiating and personnel management.

You are an emotionally responsive person, and that means you are a great communicator. Listening is an essential business skill, and those who are best at it are emotional empaths who have a well-developed ability to relate to others, and then interpret or build on what they see and hear.

You are "in touch" with your emotions, which means others can connect well with you. We most admire and best relate to people who are authentic. In other words, they show their emotions. In the business world, being "real" helps you build networks, earn the loyalty of others, win clients, and forge alliances.

THE EMPATH'S DOWNSIDE AT WORK
You're an emotional sponge. Super empathetic people tend to pick up on others' emotions. This can be detrimental when a cool-headed leader is needed, or when an objective perspective would yield a clearer decision.

You're prone to anxiety, depression, and fatigue. If you're always tuned in to coworkers' feelings, it's difficult to keep your nerves from getting frazzled. You need to be able to process emotions coming at you from all directions.

You may find it hard to work well with others. Empaths often need to work alone, and they seek solitude in order to regain their calm. Others may see you as antisocial.

If you are a super sensitive and empathetic person, be aware of the ways this wonderful trait serves you in the workplace. But be extra careful to protect your emotional and physical health, because empathetic people are, by definition, more vulnerable and open than their peers.
www.drjudithorloff.com.

***To purchase “Emotional Freedom” with 100 free gifts from noted transformational leaders such as Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Michael Beckwith, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Shirley Maclaine and more go to :

http://www.drjudithorloff.com/emotional-freedom-promotion/

Judith Orloff MD is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA. This article was adapted from her new book, Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life (Harmony Books, 2009, $24.95), which is on The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. For more information on Dr. Orloff, visit ww.drjudithorloff.com.

***To purchase “Emotional Freedom” with 100 free gifts from noted transformational leaders such as Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Michael Beckwith, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Shirley Maclaine and more go to :

http://www.drjudithorloff.com/emotional-freedom-promotion/

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Footnote 1: The ability to tolerate, even welcome, noise in your workplace is a result of your Working Style Preferences. Please click here to see whether you need background noise in order to concentrate.

Footnote 2: The preference for working alone or in a group is a Working Style Element. Please click here to see your optimal work group.

Footnote 3: The tendency to nibble is ingrained in Working Style. Please click here to see what you need when you work on something new or difficult.

All footnotes are authored by Creative Learning.

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