Un-schooling and Learning Styles

Back in the 1970s John Holt, an American educator and proponent of home schooling, said: “It's not that I feel that school is a good idea gone wrong, but a wrong idea from the word go. It's a nutty notion that we can have a place where nothing but learning happens, cut off from the rest of life.”

The un-schooling approach provides a stimulating environment, creativity materials, books, learning tools and, most importantly, adults ready to interact and answer questions. Children learn in an unstructured way, by following their natural curiosity. 

Critics say this can lead to education gaps caused by glossing over some knowledge areas, plus it’s trickier to assess the child’s progress. The goal of un-schooling, however, is not testable achievement - instead, it’s fostering a love of learning by pursuing topics meaningful and appealing to the child.   

Is your child's Learning Style Suitable to un-schooling? Here a a few indicators:

• Does your child have a non-preference for structured learning?
• Do they like parental authority?
• Are they a self-starter?

Do their Learning Style Analysis today to find out.

Homework and Your Child’s Learning Style

If your child is auditory - they like to listen and talk - try one of the following homework hints:

• Make a learning tape together with your child. Let her explain the new topic into the tape recorder.
• Discuss the lesson together.
• Encourage your child to compose and record a song, a poem or a radio play about the topic (e.g., World War II, global warming, flower pollination, Mexico).

If your child is visual - they like to read and look at images - try one of the following homework hints:

• Create a mind-map, illustration, cartoon, poster, slide show, costume, historical time line, illustrated report.  
• Watch a DVD about the topic (“The King and I” about Thailand, “Little Einsteins”).

 If your child is tactile - they like to handle objects in order to learn - try one of the following homework hints:

• Make use of question-answer jig-saw puzzles), electro- boards (a bulb lights up for every correct answer), flip chutes, etc.  
• Encourage your child to make their own memory aids: sculptures of molecules or board games depicting new topics.

If your child is kinesthetic - they learn best through physical experiences - try one of the following homework hints:

• Bake a cake together to teach conversion from grams to kilograms.
• Pantomime or act out a history lesson.
• Play a board game to discover new facts.
• Take a field trip to the zoo, a court house, a factory.
• Put on a puppet show together.

Things To Consider When Home Schooling

Imagine learning geography, history and maths by travelling from country to country. One family did just that, letting the world be their textbook. They taught 3D shapes using the cylindrical pillars in the ancient ruins of Antigua and biology on the black beaches of Monterrico.

Do you have what it takes to home school? Here are some factors to consider:

• Long-haul or short-term? If you only see yourself home schooling for a couple of years, it's important align your teaching with the school syllabus, so that your child will have less trouble adjusting when back at school. 
• Is your partner fully supportive? Home schooling may mean changes to your household and income.
• Do you have the time? While shorter than a conventional school day, home schooling still takes time away from other activities (job, volunteer work, exercise, caring for a new baby).
• Do you have the patience? While being your children 24/7 may sound great in theory, prepare strategies for grocery shopping, hairdresser appointments and your off-colour days.
• What is your child's learning style? If they enjoy the structured approach and learning in groups, home schooling may not be for them. On the other hand, if they thrive on kinesthetic input and individual attention, they may not thrive in a conventional school. Find out today.

Some children would like nothing better than staying home all day with Mum. Others thrive on the teamwork and constant socialisation at school. Schools may have expert teachers, better sports equipment, music and art facilities. Best of all, school teaches healthy competition, taking care of your things, getting along with kids you may not like very much, and dealing with issues such as bullying.

Make ice cream at Zany Zeus, Wellington, New Zealand

Learn maths at a fruit marker, Wellington, New Zealand

Discover the laws of physics, Coromandel, New Zealand

Parents and Learning Styles

Study after study, scientific research has made it clear that parental involvement affects their children's education. "Parents who actively participate in their children's learning at home help them become successful learners.  They enable children to reach their potential not only in school, but also in life." (Henderson & Berla, 1994). 

It's natural, as well as beneficial, for parents to want to help with homework, or to explain lessons the child didn't understand at school. However, as a parent, you have to be aware of your child's learning style before you help them. If you're not, you might even be working in ways that impede your child’s learning. Children find it hard to understand what parents are trying to explain if the information is not presented in the way they learn best, i.e., through their learning style preferences.

Learning-Style consists of six layers of learning-style elements: information processing, input through senses, social interaction, physical needs, environmental preferences, and attitudes.

Some children work best alone, others prefer to work with an authority figure or in groups of friends. Some children prefer visual aids while others like learning with their hands.

Your children can become outstanding in their schoolwork just as they do in other aspects of their lives. However, sometimes they need your guidance. When you recognise their individual learning styles, you will become better equipped to make learning a rewarding experience for your child. Find out how.

Worksheets for Gifted Children

It’s ironic that gifted children can be among the most difficult students. They are often bored and blasé. They may switch off in class or become disruptive. Either way, they fail to achieve their brilliant potential. While teachers are coached to work with each child at their own level, some gifted children are too high up the scale to be catered for in the classroom environment. It doesn’t help that some gifted children also suffer from learning difficulties such as dyslexia.



Schools are seldom given any advice or resources to stimulate gifted children, and many parents consider home schooling when they realise their child is underperforming at school.


Home schooling is not for everyone. It takes an extremely dedicated parent to do it well.


On the plus side, home schooling provides the opportunity to better address the child's particular learning style.


Many parents choose a halfway measure: still send the child to school, but provide him or her with stimulating worksheets that allow the child to explore topics outside the school curriculum, and also to set aside special homework time to make sure the child is still on track with their school work.


Creating the special worksheets takes a lot of thought. You need to select something that will interest the child and at the same time will not be studied at school next year. You need to gauge your child’s skill level. Finally, you need to present the worksheet in a way most palatable to your child’s learning style.


For some children, this will mean lots of colours and pictures. For others, it may be a project made out of plasticine. It all depends on the child’s sensory modalities.


Find out more about your child’s learning needs here.

Chewing Hair - A Matter of Learning Style

• “Take that hair out of your mouth!”
• “Stop biting your nails!”
• “Have you eaten the other half of the bookmark?”
• “Don’t suck your collar.”
• “Don’t chew the pencil.”
• “If you carry on biting your nails, you’ll get an infection.”

If this is a familiar mantra in your household, wait. Before you start painting your child’s fingers, pens and clothes with bitter substances, try to get to the root cause of the problem.

Every child has their own unique Learning Style, in other words, every child learns in a different way:

• some need to feel good about the topic they’re learning,
• some need to make a model of the new concept,
• some need to work closely with a group of friends in order to understand best...
• ... and some need to chew something while concentrating.

All in all, there are 49 Learning Style Elements that affect your child’s ability to concentrate on their school work. Please have a look at the LSA Pyramid to see what they are.

If your child tends to chew when reading or doing homework, give them sugar-free gum, a healthy snack, a water bottle or a wooden spoon to chew on. Less stress for you, more learning for them.

Incidentally, would your child enjoy playing a maths-based board game or baking a cake in order to learn their fractions? Find out here.

The Second Secret of Learning Styles - Why Your Desk Matters

The Second Secret of Learning Styles - Why Your Desk Matters

 

The Second Secret

As we’ve already learnt, the secret of Learning Styles extends beyond the visual / auditory / kinaesthetic manner in which you like to learn. While the LSA tool offered by us on this website does explore sensory modalities at length, we also look at many other elements that determine learning and working success. 

 

My Desk and I

·        Do you like working at a desk or would you prefer sitting somewhere less informal and more comfortable if given the choice?

·        Do you like putting your papers in folders and filing cabinets or have them stacked all over your room?

·        Do you want your desk (or equivalent) to be right by the window?

·        Are you happy in an office with no window?

·        Would you prefer to learn a new skill in a room that’s too cold or too hot?

·        How about the room itself: how quiet is too quiet for you?

           

“But wait, there’s more...”

Q: So is Creative Learning’s LSA tool VAK plus the desk?

A: No way! We consider 49 elements to determine your or your child’s unique Learning Style.

 

How can you be better at your job? How can your child do better at school? Find out.

Learning Styles and Home Education

Home education, home schooling, home-based learning - whatever you choose to call it, the definition is the same: a parent opting to teach his or her children at home instead of sending them to school. Such a situation is an ideal opportunity to showcase the full benefits of applying learning systems and of respecting children’s learning diversity, because home schooling provides a naturally nurturing environment.

(To find out more about learning styles, please click here.)

The reasons for home schooling may include:
· Parents wanting to be actively involved in educating their children;
· Parents believing the school system not suitable for their particular situation (health, special needs, values);
· No appropriate school available nearby.

While the advantages of home-based education are many, not everybody’s learning style is suitable to learning at home, just like not every student’s learning style is suitable to the classroom environment.
Learning Style elements that you should consider before you embark on home-based education include the following:
· Your child’s need for variety;
· Your child’s social preferences in a learning situation;
· Your child’s need for teacher authority;
· Your child’s attitude towards parent authority;
· Your child’s need for mobility;
· Your child’s environment needs.
· Your child’s sensory input preferences.

To discover your child’s learning style, please start here.

For example, let’s assume that your child has kinesthetic preferences and non-preferences for visual input. Showing a TV documentary on refining sugar to such a child is pointless. The child’s learning style calls for a field trip to a sugar refinery instead, so that the child can learn by doing.

Is your child tactile? If not, asking him or her to create models of geographic landscapes or water molecules is counter-productive.

Does your child prefer a set framework and guidelines from you, or does he/she need to explore the topic on their own, without an imposed structure?

Do you know your child’s learning style?