UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHILD’S LEARNING STYLE

 

Children all learn differently and it’s important to bear this in mind when it comes to supporting your child’s education. Identifying how your child best absorbs and retains information, and the learning methods that suit them will allow you to support their education in the most effective way. Here a senior school in London outlines the three main learning styles, and how you can identify the signs of them in your child and apply this knowledge to help them learn effectively. 

 

Visual learners

 

Visual learners like to see what they’re learning, so they respond best to visual representations of information, such as charts, pictures, diagrams and videos. Often these types of learners are good at remembering what they’ve seen, so they might recognise faces and places easily. You can support a visual learner by relaying information visually wherever possible and letting them draw their own representations of what they’re learning. They might also be drawn to screens, so letting them watch educational TV programmes or play computer games that cover particular topics will help your child understand and retain information in the most effective way. 

 

Auditory learners

 

These learners prefer to have the information explained to them verbally because they like to listen in order to understand. They also like to talk things through and read text aloud rather than in their head. You can help auditory learners by giving them verbal instructions and directions when possible, and facilitating conversations about topics. This will help your child remember key details they’ve heard. They might struggle a bit when it comes to reading in their head, so you can support them by initiating a discussion about what they’ve read afterwards. 

 

Kinaesthetic learners

 

Kinaesthetic learners are hands-on and like to touch and feel what they’re learning in order to understand it. They like moving around and using their body to facilitate their learning. You might notice your child using hand gestures a lot and finding it hard to sit still. They might like walking around a lot and participating in activities like sport or dance. For this type of learner, you can help them understand information by including some form of movement in their learning, such as making up dances or hand movements to help them remember key details. 

 

You’ll probably find that your child’s learning style is a mixture of these three main types, but one is probably more dominant than the other; knowing which one will help you support their learning efficiently at home and relay this information to their teachers so they’re supported adequately at school as well.