Learning Styles

She. won't. stop. talking. period.

Okay, I'm exaggerating. She does stop talking. But when she isn't talking, she's singing or humming or moving her lips.

One night I went to check on her after bed, and I heard sounds coming from her room. "Jazzy, what are you doing?" She joyfully replied, "I'm singing lullabies to Sydney and Teddy."

Imagine my surprise to research learning styles and find that she's an auditory learner who uses speech and sound to receive and process information. She needs to talk, sing, hum and whisper in order to learn.

On the other hand, my oldest son, who I once suspected was hard of hearing, is a visual learner who receives and processes information thorough images and print. When I inevitably ask him, "Did you just hear me say...?" He'd do well to respond, "Yes, I heard you, but could you make me a list?"

One of the best things we can do in our home schools is understand our children's learning styles. We can reduce frustration and make our lessons more efficient by instructing our children in ways they understand.

If you can, choose a homeschool method that suits your child's learning style. If you have multiple children to teach, make small adaptations to your homeschool curriculum to make it fit each child's needs. Also teach your children how to make adaptations that will make it easier for them to learn when they're out on their own, and find fun ways to strengthen their areas of weakness.

My youngest son is still a toddler, but the fact that we often chase him around screaming, "NO, Isaiah!" is a good clue that he's a kinesthetic learner who learns through touch and movement.

Here are some tips for discovering your children's learning styles, along with ideas for tailoring your curriculum to suit different types of learners.