Working with learning styles

I have never read a book on learning styles. I guess I need to! Timberdoodle features one called *Talkers, Watchers, and Doers: Unlocking Your Child's Unique Learning Style*

When I saw "Talkers, Watchers, Doers" I immediately thought "Anna Kate, Olivia and Elias." In that order. LOL! But I don't really know because I haven't read the book.

http://www.timberdoodle.com/index.asp?PageAction=PRODSEARCH&txtSearch=Ta...

I was talking about what I had read in Ruth Beechick's book (*Easy Start in Arithmetic*), about the stages of learning that a young child goes through. But you may have a gifted child on your hands and that may not apply. If she enjoys workbooks, why not let her do them? My DD didn't like workbooks, but her fine motor skills were not that strong yet, so that was part of her frustration.

for once I decided to think before posting!!

I think this is going to be a fine line, and it'll take some practice to find the right way to walk it. For times when you really need her to learn something it's probably better to stick with her favoured learning style. Where there's no rush you could try another approach first, get her used to trying something new, then move onto her usual approach.

where it doesn't matter at all you could encourage her to see the other things as play, extras unrelated to learning. That might also give you an opportunity to see what she learns from other approaches. Make games with the manipulatives rather than trying to teach maths with them, so she gets used to the idea of having them in her life. A lot of people seem to have a primary learning style and a secondary learning style, so they aren't only restricted to one way of doing things. Equally, most of us have one learning style that does absolutely nothing for us.

I think the hard part, which requires some research, is recognising all fors of each learning style, and finding a way of using a particular one in each situation. My example of spellings is one where you can see a few approaches, but how would a kinetic learner be helped to learn spellings with their primary learning style?? Perhaps dancing and saying the words out loud. Or having physical letters they need to touch in turn. Personally I can't see that at all, but then it's not my style.

DS is very mobile so I suspect he's probably a more kinetic learner which will make it hard for me to teach him. My learning styles are more like DD who likes workbooks and reading. That said I can imagine dS doing poorly at academics until he finds something that really fires his imagination and then taking off with it and being brilliant in his field. Probably it will be a vocational thing too, but I could be wrong since he loves science as well as cooking and interior design (yes, he's 6). DD worries me more because I think she'llbe the type who can't identify what she really wants to do, and like me, ends up doing law because it's a good degree and seems a logical fit for her skills, rather than because she has a passion for it.

drifting off topic again... as usual!

I think that you should try other approaches, make her aware that there are other ways of doing things, but not push them too hard, keep them as extras. Since her pace seems to be fairly quick anyway I wouldn't think you need to rush her in anything much. The only forcing you need really do is to show her how to be spontaneous, encourage her to take breaks for fun. If she's that much in her head she probably isn't good at the concept of fun, because she enjoys the work anyway. I know people like that... they genuinely enjoy whatever would drive the rest of us mental, so they don't feel the need for activities the rest of us would term 'fun'. But the pushing is required to stop them becoming too one-dimensional, give them a world beyond their primary passion. You'll have to find something that's a good fit though, or it will be viewed with hatred!! A contrast, but well-suited, whether that outlet is something like sports or dance, art or music, or maybe something to do with nature or animals. This way when she's older she'll have a better chance of being able to separate herself from her work and find a stress-relieving activity she enjoys, something to renew and refresh her creativity.

in terms of learning, don't worry too much, but do find an outlet for her which broadens her horizons. Hope that makes sense because I gotta go get DS some lunch before he goes to school!

Kerri.

When it comes to the whole global/analytical style division, I am firmly a analytical (as is DS14), and DH and DS13 are strongly global. I havn't determined what DD is yet, but I'm thinking probably analytical too.

When it comes down to the Gardner categories (visual/spacial, kinesthetic, musical, naturist, logical/mathmatical, and so on) we are all different primary/secondary combinations.

DS13 just could not learn long division. I tried and tried to take him through the steps and he did not get it. It made me so frustrated-how could he not remember the steps? Then DH came on the scene and solved 10 problems. He gave that page to DS and told him-look at this and explain it to me, how did I do this? After DS studied the complete problems, he really understood. It was so cool. DH says that's why he can put things together without reading directions. He looks at the picture of the completed thing and can figure it out from there. When DS13 did a big research project for school recently he wrote the whole report first, and then backed his mandatory outline out of the report. Funny.

I think Kerri has some really good advice. I love that idea of offering and trying experiences when time isn't so much of an issue, that's a great idea.

OK, I've blathered on long enough.
-Jo

"When DS13 did a big research project for school recently he wrote the whole report first, and then backed his mandatory outline out of the report. Funny."

That is so me. I do that too.

I've always done the outline afterwards! In grad school I did it to help revise -- write a draft, outline it, revise it. But I know I am more "global" for sure.

What I can never tell is whether I am visual, aural, or kinesthetic -- I usually think I am none of them. Not sure how I know anything!

Shaun
"Home is not the one tame place in a world of adventure; it is the one wild place in a world of rules and set tasks."
   -- G. K. Chesterton