Learning Styles and Home Schooling

Home schooling your child may well be one of the most difficult decisions you've ever made. It is also probably the most fun, rewarding... and, yes, difficult... tasks you've ever undertaken. Hopefully you live in an area where you have access to materials, learning tools, government support and other home-schooling families.

We, at Creative Learning, would like to support your endeavor by telling you about Learning Styles. Every one of your children, as we're sure you've noticed, learns in his or her unique way. Perhaps one of them likes to sit still in a brightly lit room and do the project on her own, while the other craves your constant input and prefers to memorize his times-tables while jumping up and down across the room.

Neither learning style is wrong, neither is better. They are both perfect for that specific child. However, as a parent, you may feel rather overwhelmed by the wealth of information included in your child's Learning Style Assessment.

So many elements to consider! Light, noise levels, time of day, visual input, tactile input, intake, perseverance... What is a parent to do?

Consider satisfying one element at a time. Let's take light as an example. Light is an important element of the LSA Pyramid and it can be a powerful irritant or a powerful sedative if used incorrectly.

If you discover that all three of your children concentrate well in bright light, for example, no problem! Make sure they always do their work in a well-lit room (daylight or bright bulbs, but never fluorescent - the constant flickering of fluorescent light is often stressful to the body on a subconscious level), or take them outside whenever the weather permits.

But let's say only one of your children likes bright light, while others do better in dimly lit rooms. Consider utilizing two rooms (one bright, one with diffused light), or create areas of bright as well as dimmer light in your home "classroom". On field trips, make sure the children who prefer darker learning environments wear sunglasses and/or front-facing peaked caps.

Once you've nailed the light aspect, move onto the next element in the pyramid. Tip: The environment elements will probably be the easiest to satisfy. Good luck!

If you're a home-schooling parent, please write to us at yvonne@clc.co.nz and the first 3 emails will win a free Learning Style Assessment.