Monday, March 19, 2012

Homeschooling for Different Learning Styles

While I am very proud of the fact that by homeschooling I allow my children to learn at their own pace, I don't spend a whole lot of time contemplating their learning styles.  The unschooling portion of our homeschooling seems to meet their needs since they are learning more than enough and are happy most of the time.  I still am not sure which style I would assign them to or how to use it to consciously customize our program.

I first started to notice differences when T practiced reading from some of the level 1 readers we get at the library.  He meticulously sounds out phonetically each word.  It is obvious that he really has a handle on phonics, but sometimes longer words or words that don't follow the rules trip him up.  C, on the other hand, sometimes guesses the word before him out of context even though she doesn't have all the phonics tools yet.  I am not sure what this means.  Perhaps one is more visual and one is more auditory.  Both are certainly hands-on learners.  I think most kids are.

As far as hands-on projects go, one of the most interesting examples of learning differences happened this past Saturday.  We went to the Crane Branch library , they had a great flag making program where they drew a design on Styrofoam to make a stamp for paint onto the flags.  It was fascinating to see how each one handled the project.  They were given six flags to put designs on and string together.  C was the only one at the class who completed all six and strung them together.  However, the creativity level was low compared to the others.  The teacher demonstrated a simple red flower.  C made five simple red flower flags and one basic red heart one, but again was the only one to complete the whole project:


T, on the other hand, made a painstaking picture of a princess to stamp onto his flag (blue to be my favorite color).  For the next ones he began an elaborate picture on the Styrofoam of a laptop computer with pictures of princesses on it.  Because he ran out of time and the fact that he became enamored with keeping the Styrofoam itself, he left with only one flag on a string (and his beloved Styrofoam computer):


For several days now, I have been wondering what this says about their learning styles and personalities.  I wonder if I could find some books to help me sort this out.  Is it important to know?  Would the information help me customize their learning better?

Have you experienced these phenomenons with your kids, homeschooled or otherwise?  What advice would you give me?

4 comments:

  1. There is a book called The Way They Learn by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias that explains all about the different learning styles. It is very good! There are a couple of other books out there, too, and I have heard that if you read a couple different ones it will give you better tools to figure out exactly how your kids "tick". I just have the one book though, and it was helpful. Being as young as they are, your kids still fall into that younger hands-on realm, although they may have leanings in other directions even now. I like that stamp you made, btw! :)
    ~Dawn @ TheMommaKnows.com

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    1. I will look for it. I think getting a better handle on what makes them tick will help. Thanks!

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  2. Yes, learning styles are important. This was a big issue with me and my four siblings when we were homeschooled. Knowing how a student thinks about problems has helped me become a better teacher. Definitely look into some of the books out there.

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    1. I definitely will. From talking to other parents more and more it sounds like it is pretty critical.

      You mention that you were homeschooled. Are you homeschooling your own children now?

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