Help your child to succeed! Know their learning style
ECE, BA
Every child is their own world
You probably have noticed that each of your children reacts to similar situations in very different ways. Even though you have taught them the same values and customs, your children interpret the world their way. His or her learning style reflects the way in which he/she responds to the environment and to social, emotional, and physical stimuli to understand new information.
Therefore, it is very useful that you recognize which is the predominant learning style in you and in each of your children. In this way, you can help them succeed in their projects, and in their education, improve communication, reduce frustration and achieve more positive interactions with them.
“Each child comes into this world with their own qualities and gifts. It is our job as parents to recognize the individuality of each of our children and honour it by accepting them as they are.” –Anonymous
A learning style can be described as the way we process information. It focuses on our strengths and not our weaknesses. There is no right or wrong learning style. Just like us, children show a preference for one or a combination of the basic styles of learning: visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic.
Children with a visual learning style
- Think of images of the past when they try to remember
- Draw the shape of things in their mind
- Remember what they saw or read better than what was written
- Likes it when the teacher explains something using the board
- Enjoys watching TV, seeing images, and watching videos a lot
- When talking or trying to explain something they sometimes move their eyes upward
Children with an auditory learning style
- Prefer to listen to their classes and pay attention to the teacher
- Like to explain by talking or telling a story
- Like to drum their fingers, keeping a beat
- Have a tendency to spell phonetically (using sounds)
- Learn by listening and remembering facts when they are presented in the form of poems, songs, or melodies
Children with a kinaesthetic learning style (by touching things)
- Learn best by moving and manipulating things
- Like discovering how things work by doing, touching, and testing
- Enjoy food and drink, savouring them slowly
- They explain by gesturing, showing with their hands, and manipulating
- Remember what they felt
By using this information you will be able to recognize the areas in which your children need help and which style they need to strengthen for their benefit. As you can see, both children and adults use different learning styles depending on the situation. If your child has difficulty in some area or at school, perhaps you’ll need to use a different style than the one being used by his or her teachers. Another thing to consider is the environment in which we learn the best. Not all of us learn in a quiet room with good lighting and in a chair with a vertical backrest. Perhaps the best environment for one of your children is in the midst of noise, with music, laying down, with low lighting, and the TV on, or in a messy space. Spend time rehearsing the different styles of learning of your children to improve their productivity, reduce their frustration and reinforce their sense of accomplishment.
“If a child cannot learn the way we teach, perhaps we should teach how they learn.”
–Rita Dunn
There are children who excel in mathematics, or in music, or sports, while others stand out for their generosity and others for their patience. Either way, the important thing is that parents discover, respect, and nurture the virtues and strengths of their children. Not all of us have the same abilities or enhanced intelligence, so we should ask ourselves how we can highlight and focus our efforts and those of our children in achieving those goals that we naturally have more accessible to us. Howard Gardner (psychologist, researcher, and professor at Harvard University) revolutionized education worldwide with his theory of Multiple Intelligences. For Gardner, there is no single intelligence, but eight intelligences that are present in everyone, each to a greater or lesser degree. What this means is that every person has all the intelligences, but in each of us, one or some predominate over the others, thus creating as many intelligence profiles as there are people in the world.
“Each person has a unique combination of intelligence. Stimulating each student in a personalized way is the fundamental challenge of education.”
–Howard Gardner
The eight types of intelligence according to Howard Gardner:
1- Visual Intelligence (spatial)
Is the intelligence that allows us to interact and understand the spatial and/or three-dimensional surroundings. People prefer the use of images, videos, and spatial reasoning to learn better.
2- Aural Intelligence (auditory-musical)
Musical intelligence has to do with the ability to express, transform, listen and appreciate music, as well as the ability to compose or interpret it. People prefer the use of music and sound to enhance and improve learning.
3- Verbal Intelligence (linguistic)
That of our different languages, of words. It’s not limited only to the verbal but also to the ability to communicate. People prefer the use of words (both spoken and written) to improve and enhance learning.
4- Physical Intelligence (kinesthetic, spatial)
The intelligence of our body, its movement, and its gravitational conquests. People prefer the use of their bodies, hands, and the sense of touch in order to learn. Direct experience is a good driver for learning in this sense.
5- Logical Intelligence (mathematical)
The relationship between logic and mathematics maintains a direct and interdependent link with machines. We make them in our image and likeness, and we adapt to them. It has to do with analytical and reasoning ability. People prefer the use of logic and reasoning to have a good understanding when presented with new knowledge.
6- Social Intelligence (interpersonal)
It is the intelligence of our internal processes to relate to others. It has to do with our ability to understand others and what happens to another individual at a certain time or circumstance. People have better learning if they do it in groups or in the company of other people.
7- Solitary Intelligence (intrapersonal)
This intelligence is not about the “other”, but about oneself, one’s internal dialogue. It has to do with our ability to recognize who we are and what we really want, without deception or interference from emotions. People prefer learning alone or promoting self-study to learn calmly and without pressure.
8- Naturalistic or Environmental Intelligence
The one that gives us attention to our natural environment. This type of intelligence is related to the ability to observe and reflect on what is happening in our environment.
Todos los niños poseen un conjunto diferente de potencialidades. Como padres, es imperativo comprender cómo tus hijos aprenden, entender sus inteligencias predominantes, para poderles guiar y enseñar de una manera más efectiva y significativa, ayudarlos a triunfar!
“We are all geniuses, but if you judge a fish for its ability to climb trees, it will live its entire life thinking that it is useless.”
–Albert Einstein
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