Learning Styles: What Kind of a Learner Is This Child of Mine?

Many parents focus on what their child learns in school, but sometimes we need to ask how he or she learns.

Learning types and styles are the pathways linked to one or more of our senses. They make understanding possible. Generally speaking, each of us can be classified into one of the four following camps. 

• The Visual Learner learns best when he is "shown" how to do something. He thrives on written directions. 
• The Auditory Learner retains more information from what he hears than what he reads. 
• The Kinesthetic Learner expresses herself through movement and often has trouble sitting still. 
• The Tactile Learner needs to feel and manipulate objects and needs hands-on experience in order to learn best.

Although most of us use a blend of learning styles in order to learn, we usually rely more heavily on one style of learning than the others.

Using Learning Styles Activities

These days, teachers try to modify their teaching to incorporate techniques which focus on all four senses listed above to provide differentiated classroom instruction. For example, when a book report is assigned, instead of requiring it in written form, which best suits a visual learning style, the teacher may allow the auditory learner to give an oral book report, the kinesthetic learner to act out a scene from the book, and the tactile learner to create a mobile or other art object.

It is in a child's best interest for parents to understand how they learn best. Parents should support the efforts schools are making to appeal to each child's learning characteristics. Even in structured tutoring programs, like Kumon, where at first glance it may appear that the pencil and paper approach appeals only to the visual learner, they have an oral reading component and math manipulatives such as the number board.

Learning Styles Strategies Promote Success

In school, children are often tested for learning disabilities if their academic achievement falls significantly below what is expected. Sometimes what looks like a learning disability may really be a learning difference. The child may not process information properly simply because it is presented in a manner that is not compatible with the way he or she learns best.

Successful learning happens when we make a connection between what we are attempting to learn, and what our personal strengths and experiences already are. When the connection is made, learning is easy. 

Andrea Pastorok is an Educational Psychologist and School Consultant for Kumon USA, Inc., a tutoring service for K-12 learners. This article was adapted with permission of Kumon USA, Inc.