Does your child prefer to give a quick answer rather than a correct answer? Is her mind very quick? Does it constantly create new ideas?
If that’s the case, it’s possible that your child’s learning style is impulsive. She might have difficulties concentrating and staying focused on her schoolwork, she might get easily distracted from doing homework or paying attention to a task for a length of time.
For an impulsive child to thrive at school, she needs an understanding teacher who’s willing to accommodate her thinking style by allowing the child to answer in her preferred quick way and not discouraging her when she gets the answer wrong.
Fast-paced, short and challenging assignments suit an impulsive child’s thinking style best. A method that often works with impulsive children, is to ask them the question upfront and then tell them to find the answer in the textbook or in the classroom display cabinet (as opposed to telling them a lot of facts first and then asking questions about it). Asking one question at a time might also be a good way of keeping the child’s attention focused.
Another way may be to offer small rewards for every correct answer, thus motivating the child to become more flexible in their impulsive thinking style. Note: this will only work with externally motivated children (to find out more about your child’s motivation, please click here).
Either way, because impulsiveness is a biological trait, your child is not likely to change her thinking style very much as she grows older. To enhance her learning success in an environment that does not accept her impulsive style, she needs techniques for coping with being wrong some of the time, or with being labelled somebody who doesn’t think before they speak. You can help her by making her understand that this impulsiveness is simply part of her learning style, and not the person she is.
In any case, in today’s fast-paced society, it’s not always a bad thing to be impulsive. Sometimes a quick decision that’s not perfect may be better than a perfect decision that comes too late.
Did you know?
Impulsive decision-making is just one of 48 elements that make up your child’s learning style. To determine the other elements, analyse your child’s learning style here with our free demo.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Learning Styles / Working Styles and The Communication Gap
WHY
Whether you are a system architect, a business analyst or a manager, part of your job description is communication with other team members. And, of course, the way you communicate will reflect your inherent Learning or Working Style.
If, for example, you are an auditory person, chances are, you’ll be reaching for a phone in order to communicate. But if you are a visual or tactile thinker, your first instinct will be to compose an email.
If you tend to think sequentially, you will start your communiqué at the beginning and include many pertinent details. If your approach is holistic, however, you will most likely start at the end with the goal or the objective, follow it with an overview or summary and not go into any details.
So far, so good. You are communicating in the way that is optimal for you, thus allowing you to express yourself best. The problem, however, comes when your phone call or email is received at the other end... because your team member’s Working Style (and thus their communication style) may not be compatible with yours.
WHAT
All in all, there are close to 50 elements that make up your personal working style, and about half of them have a direct bearing on the way in which you communicate with others. We’ve already discussed the visual-auditory and the sequential-holistic disparities. Others include:
· Time of day (some people tend to think better first thing in the morning, others do not).
· Setting (formal or informal - they both mean different things to different people and can make them feel uneasy).
· Mobility (some people think better when literally on their feet).
· Light (the lighting in the room should vary according to the needs of the individuals. It really is a myth that brighter light is better. People who prefer dimmer lighting find bright fluorescent light stressful and bothersome.)
· Background noise (to some people, a silent environment is the only way to work, but others may feel energised by the friendly hum of a busy office or by quiet music.)
· Speed (is the person you’re speaking to somebody who likes to make quick decisions, or do they need time to reflect on what you’d said).
· Content (is humour going to be appreciated? Should you use a real-life example or an anecdote? Is a list a good idea? Bullet points? Graphs and pictures? Are you better off with a set of slides or one really good physical model of what you’re trying to convey?)
One Working Style is not better than another and that there is no optimal communication style. It’s not true that those who communicate in a sequential fashion communicate better than those who prefer the holistic way, for example. What’s true is that those who prefer communicating in a sequential fashion will communicate better in a sequential fashion than in a holistic one, and will respond better to somebody who can speak their sequential language.
To find out more about your working style, please click here.
HOW
So how does one turn Working Styles into a business outcome?
After responding to a series of statements about yourself, you will receive a report that identifies your particular strengths, flexibilities and non-preferences. This will help you recognise and control the elements that can enhance your productivity and fulfilment at work.
Some elements you’ll be able to change yourself (keep your desk tidy, get a desk lamp, invest in ear plugs), others will need your manager’s approval (scheduling of important meetings to a time that’s productive for most of the team, taking work home to think it over in the evening).
The most important advantage, however, will come from your self-awareness. If you realise that you prefer to communicate in points, and you’re trying to gather information that’s new to you, number your questions when you email them to your colleagues, and ask them to respond in point form.
Of course, if a colleague is seeking information from you, the polite (and smart) thing to do is to respond to him in the style that he or she prefers, be it email, face to face, bullet points or overviews.
Whether you are a system architect, a business analyst or a manager, part of your job description is communication with other team members. And, of course, the way you communicate will reflect your inherent Learning or Working Style.
If, for example, you are an auditory person, chances are, you’ll be reaching for a phone in order to communicate. But if you are a visual or tactile thinker, your first instinct will be to compose an email.
If you tend to think sequentially, you will start your communiqué at the beginning and include many pertinent details. If your approach is holistic, however, you will most likely start at the end with the goal or the objective, follow it with an overview or summary and not go into any details.
So far, so good. You are communicating in the way that is optimal for you, thus allowing you to express yourself best. The problem, however, comes when your phone call or email is received at the other end... because your team member’s Working Style (and thus their communication style) may not be compatible with yours.
WHAT
All in all, there are close to 50 elements that make up your personal working style, and about half of them have a direct bearing on the way in which you communicate with others. We’ve already discussed the visual-auditory and the sequential-holistic disparities. Others include:
· Time of day (some people tend to think better first thing in the morning, others do not).
· Setting (formal or informal - they both mean different things to different people and can make them feel uneasy).
· Mobility (some people think better when literally on their feet).
· Light (the lighting in the room should vary according to the needs of the individuals. It really is a myth that brighter light is better. People who prefer dimmer lighting find bright fluorescent light stressful and bothersome.)
· Background noise (to some people, a silent environment is the only way to work, but others may feel energised by the friendly hum of a busy office or by quiet music.)
· Speed (is the person you’re speaking to somebody who likes to make quick decisions, or do they need time to reflect on what you’d said).
· Content (is humour going to be appreciated? Should you use a real-life example or an anecdote? Is a list a good idea? Bullet points? Graphs and pictures? Are you better off with a set of slides or one really good physical model of what you’re trying to convey?)
One Working Style is not better than another and that there is no optimal communication style. It’s not true that those who communicate in a sequential fashion communicate better than those who prefer the holistic way, for example. What’s true is that those who prefer communicating in a sequential fashion will communicate better in a sequential fashion than in a holistic one, and will respond better to somebody who can speak their sequential language.
To find out more about your working style, please click here.
HOW
So how does one turn Working Styles into a business outcome?
After responding to a series of statements about yourself, you will receive a report that identifies your particular strengths, flexibilities and non-preferences. This will help you recognise and control the elements that can enhance your productivity and fulfilment at work.
Some elements you’ll be able to change yourself (keep your desk tidy, get a desk lamp, invest in ear plugs), others will need your manager’s approval (scheduling of important meetings to a time that’s productive for most of the team, taking work home to think it over in the evening).
The most important advantage, however, will come from your self-awareness. If you realise that you prefer to communicate in points, and you’re trying to gather information that’s new to you, number your questions when you email them to your colleagues, and ask them to respond in point form.
Of course, if a colleague is seeking information from you, the polite (and smart) thing to do is to respond to him in the style that he or she prefers, be it email, face to face, bullet points or overviews.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Learning Styles and TV
Recent research results, published in “Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine”, suggest that allowing children to watch TV and play video games could pose a major threat to their health. This is not only because of the indoor, passive and sedentary nature of the two pastimes, but also because of the contents.
For example, among teenagers raised in sexually conservative backgrounds, watching two or more hours of TV per day made it significantly more likely for the teen to engage in sexual activities than their non-TV watching peers exposed to the same upbringing.
Furthermore, playing a violent video game seems to increase a child’s general disregard for their own safety of and the safety of others, thus making teenagers more likely to try drugs, alcohol, unprotected sex or driving under the influence.
But what about educational DVDs and games? We, at Creative Learning, accept that TV and computer games - when used correctly - play a role in education. If a child’s learning style indicated preferences for computer-learning or visual learning with pictures, we strongly encourage parents to include that method in the child’s education.
Do you know whether e-learning, computer games and educational videos are suitable to your child’s learning style? To find out, please click here.
But what about babies and preschoolers who are too young to have their learning style analysed? The accepted wisdom is to teach your toddlers using a multi-sensory approach, which includes all of the stimuli listed below:
· Tactile (allowing them to explore shapes and texture - wool, foam, grass, water, sand, silk - with their hands, feet, and the skin on the rest of their bodies);
· Kinesthetic (running, jumping, climbing, balancing, trips to the zoo or the museum);
· Auditory (listening to music, songs, poems, stories);
· Visual (books, videos, watching the nature outside, watching family activities).
Again, a word of caution here about videos. University of Seattle, Washington, conducted a study into the popular Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby series of educational videos aimed at improving the vocabularies of babies and toddlers. The researches were dismayed to discover that children who watch such DVDs usually know fewer keywords than those who don’t.
Could it be that their learning style preferences are showing early? Or is the two-dimensional TV screen simply not a good visual medium for babies or toddlers? Or perhaps babies who watch DVDs have less time to interact with their primary educators, the parents?
As with everything else, moderation is the key.
For example, among teenagers raised in sexually conservative backgrounds, watching two or more hours of TV per day made it significantly more likely for the teen to engage in sexual activities than their non-TV watching peers exposed to the same upbringing.
Furthermore, playing a violent video game seems to increase a child’s general disregard for their own safety of and the safety of others, thus making teenagers more likely to try drugs, alcohol, unprotected sex or driving under the influence.
But what about educational DVDs and games? We, at Creative Learning, accept that TV and computer games - when used correctly - play a role in education. If a child’s learning style indicated preferences for computer-learning or visual learning with pictures, we strongly encourage parents to include that method in the child’s education.
Do you know whether e-learning, computer games and educational videos are suitable to your child’s learning style? To find out, please click here.
But what about babies and preschoolers who are too young to have their learning style analysed? The accepted wisdom is to teach your toddlers using a multi-sensory approach, which includes all of the stimuli listed below:
· Tactile (allowing them to explore shapes and texture - wool, foam, grass, water, sand, silk - with their hands, feet, and the skin on the rest of their bodies);
· Kinesthetic (running, jumping, climbing, balancing, trips to the zoo or the museum);
· Auditory (listening to music, songs, poems, stories);
· Visual (books, videos, watching the nature outside, watching family activities).
Again, a word of caution here about videos. University of Seattle, Washington, conducted a study into the popular Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby series of educational videos aimed at improving the vocabularies of babies and toddlers. The researches were dismayed to discover that children who watch such DVDs usually know fewer keywords than those who don’t.
Could it be that their learning style preferences are showing early? Or is the two-dimensional TV screen simply not a good visual medium for babies or toddlers? Or perhaps babies who watch DVDs have less time to interact with their primary educators, the parents?
As with everything else, moderation is the key.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Learning Styles - How Your Learning Style Can Make You Feel Sleepy
If you know a little about learning styles and working styles, you will know that learning and working in a style that clashes with your own unique preferences will - inevitably - make you feel stressed and tired.
However, recent research indicates that the problem goes a lot deeper than that. Dr Nakamori Suganuma, of Osaka University, Japan, and a lead researcher into the issue, discovered that people who spend more pre-bedtime hours using the Internet or watching television are more likely to report that they don't get enough sleep.
This is even though they sleep as long (or almost as long) as people who spend fewer pre-bedtime hours in front of a computer or television screen, because longer Internet and television use before bedtime did not correlate with getting less actual sleep.
The research, therefore, implies that electronic media have an effect on sleep demand and sleep quality, either making the users THINK they’ve had too little sleep whereas in fact they may have had enough, or causing the users to need more sleep than those who don’t use computers and TV in the pre-bedtime hours.
So, what does that have to do with learning styles? Quite simply, your learning style will often dictate how much TV you will watch and how long you will spend on the computer. If you are predisposed towards e-learning, for example, chances are, you will spend more time on the computer than somebody who is not.
Also, learning styles are responsible - to a large extent - for determining WHEN you will use the computer and watch TV, particularly for work and learning purposes.
To find out what your learning style is and whether it might be responsible for making you crave more sleep, please click here.
However, recent research indicates that the problem goes a lot deeper than that. Dr Nakamori Suganuma, of Osaka University, Japan, and a lead researcher into the issue, discovered that people who spend more pre-bedtime hours using the Internet or watching television are more likely to report that they don't get enough sleep.
This is even though they sleep as long (or almost as long) as people who spend fewer pre-bedtime hours in front of a computer or television screen, because longer Internet and television use before bedtime did not correlate with getting less actual sleep.
The research, therefore, implies that electronic media have an effect on sleep demand and sleep quality, either making the users THINK they’ve had too little sleep whereas in fact they may have had enough, or causing the users to need more sleep than those who don’t use computers and TV in the pre-bedtime hours.
So, what does that have to do with learning styles? Quite simply, your learning style will often dictate how much TV you will watch and how long you will spend on the computer. If you are predisposed towards e-learning, for example, chances are, you will spend more time on the computer than somebody who is not.
Also, learning styles are responsible - to a large extent - for determining WHEN you will use the computer and watch TV, particularly for work and learning purposes.
To find out what your learning style is and whether it might be responsible for making you crave more sleep, please click here.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Learning Styles: is your child too tired to learn?
Many children fail to achieve their potential at school because they run low on energy. Often, this is a direct result of mismatched learning styles, in other words, your child learns in a way that’s not accommodated at their school.
We all have an optimal way in which to absorb new and difficult concepts. If we are continually introduced to new ideas in a way that’s not the best for us, we will experience stress and fatigue. What’s more, when we are taught in a way that’s incompatible with our learning style, we will often fail to learn at all.
Many aspects constitute a person’s individual learning style: the time of day, the learning group, the way in which the information is presented (visually or orally), whether the teacher is using details or using the big picture, how bright the classroom light is, how warm the environment, how strict the structure - to mention just a few. Change but one of those elements into something that interferes with your child’s learning style, and the child will have to expand more energy in order to concentrate on his or her learning.
If you think your child’s learning style may be different to the traditional learning style expected at most places of learning, here is a scientifically researched way of finding out for sure: http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products/learning-style-analysis/.
In addition to accommodating your child’s learning style, here are a few tips to help them replenish their energy levels:
· A nutritious low GI breakfast,
· Lunchbox packed with low GI snacks,
· Drinks plenty of water,
· Enough sleep at night,
· Keeping physically fit,
· Doing energising exercises (please contact us to find out more about them).
We all have an optimal way in which to absorb new and difficult concepts. If we are continually introduced to new ideas in a way that’s not the best for us, we will experience stress and fatigue. What’s more, when we are taught in a way that’s incompatible with our learning style, we will often fail to learn at all.
Many aspects constitute a person’s individual learning style: the time of day, the learning group, the way in which the information is presented (visually or orally), whether the teacher is using details or using the big picture, how bright the classroom light is, how warm the environment, how strict the structure - to mention just a few. Change but one of those elements into something that interferes with your child’s learning style, and the child will have to expand more energy in order to concentrate on his or her learning.
If you think your child’s learning style may be different to the traditional learning style expected at most places of learning, here is a scientifically researched way of finding out for sure: http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products/learning-style-analysis/.
In addition to accommodating your child’s learning style, here are a few tips to help them replenish their energy levels:
· A nutritious low GI breakfast,
· Lunchbox packed with low GI snacks,
· Drinks plenty of water,
· Enough sleep at night,
· Keeping physically fit,
· Doing energising exercises (please contact us to find out more about them).
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Learning Style Homework Tips
Learning Style Homework Tips
Homework can be a tricky area for parents. How do you prevent it from turning into a battlefield? Learning styles, in particular the learning style of your child, holds many of the answers.
Children, especially holistic children, need to know why they have to do homework. What’s the benefit of doing something at home that you’ve just done in class? How does homework fit into the general scheme of their education? Explain to your children that homework is important to reinforce skills that have been taught at school. It also gives teachers a chance to monitor the students’ progress. If the children allow it, homework can also be a great way to learn to work independently!
Analytic children, on the other hand, probably aren’t as interested in the big picture. If they refuse to do homework, it’s probably because the task at hand seems too big and they have trouble breaking it into manageable details. Help them organise the work into step-by-step portions and sub-tasks. Create a list of all the things that have to be done that day and let the child tick them off as they go along.
If you’re not sure whether your child is holistic or analytic, please take the quick test by clicking on this link: http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products/learning-style-analysis/.
Bear in mind that you need to set up an appropriate environment and atmosphere for doing homework. Setting aside a specific place to do homework is a good idea (please see the tips on how to create an optimal study environment), but again, for some children this may be a quiet corner, while for others it could be the family room with the music on and papers strewn everywhere. Also, children who thrive on variety (see their LSA results) might like the study area moved or redecorated several times a month.
Some children like to have parents involved in their school life and in their homework. This doesn’t mean that parents do the work that their children are supposed to do - showing interest in what your child is learning at present and what their assignment involves may be enough. Your child might like you to give them a quick test at the end to see that they’ve understood the work. Other children, however, may have a different learning style, one that is conducive to working without parental supervision.
Setting a specific time for doing homework works well if you can tailor it to your children’s “time of day” preference based on their LSA results, but you have to be realistic about what you have available: if your child’s preference is for early morning learning, this will usually clash with the school’s timetable during the week, and you might not want to pile every weekend morning with homework!
If your child has a strong preference for morning learning, and a strong non-preference for afternoon and evening learning, you might have to discuss this with the teacher. Show them the child’s LSA report and ask how you can work together to combat the homework blues.
To check your children’s LSA results, here is that link again: http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products/learning-style-analysis.
Homework can be a tricky area for parents. How do you prevent it from turning into a battlefield? Learning styles, in particular the learning style of your child, holds many of the answers.
Children, especially holistic children, need to know why they have to do homework. What’s the benefit of doing something at home that you’ve just done in class? How does homework fit into the general scheme of their education? Explain to your children that homework is important to reinforce skills that have been taught at school. It also gives teachers a chance to monitor the students’ progress. If the children allow it, homework can also be a great way to learn to work independently!
Analytic children, on the other hand, probably aren’t as interested in the big picture. If they refuse to do homework, it’s probably because the task at hand seems too big and they have trouble breaking it into manageable details. Help them organise the work into step-by-step portions and sub-tasks. Create a list of all the things that have to be done that day and let the child tick them off as they go along.
If you’re not sure whether your child is holistic or analytic, please take the quick test by clicking on this link: http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products/learning-style-analysis/.
Bear in mind that you need to set up an appropriate environment and atmosphere for doing homework. Setting aside a specific place to do homework is a good idea (please see the tips on how to create an optimal study environment), but again, for some children this may be a quiet corner, while for others it could be the family room with the music on and papers strewn everywhere. Also, children who thrive on variety (see their LSA results) might like the study area moved or redecorated several times a month.
Some children like to have parents involved in their school life and in their homework. This doesn’t mean that parents do the work that their children are supposed to do - showing interest in what your child is learning at present and what their assignment involves may be enough. Your child might like you to give them a quick test at the end to see that they’ve understood the work. Other children, however, may have a different learning style, one that is conducive to working without parental supervision.
Setting a specific time for doing homework works well if you can tailor it to your children’s “time of day” preference based on their LSA results, but you have to be realistic about what you have available: if your child’s preference is for early morning learning, this will usually clash with the school’s timetable during the week, and you might not want to pile every weekend morning with homework!
If your child has a strong preference for morning learning, and a strong non-preference for afternoon and evening learning, you might have to discuss this with the teacher. Show them the child’s LSA report and ask how you can work together to combat the homework blues.
To check your children’s LSA results, here is that link again: http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/products/learning-style-analysis.
This blog is moving...
This blog is moving to http://blogs.clc.co.nz/LearningStyles/Default.aspx. For a while, I will continue to post at both, but please update your URL.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)