Understanding how your child learns is an important step in preparing them for academic success. There are, however, various thoughts and theories on learning styles.
David Kolb, in his book Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development, described four different learning styles:
- Converger
- Diverger
- Assimilator
- Accommodator
This model eventually contributed to the Learning Style Inventory. The LSI is commonly used to determine a student’s learning style and is often attributed to finding out the child’s individual preferences and needs in an educational environment.
Many adults associate learning styles with the corporate favorite, the Myers-Briggs test, which gives 16 different types based upon the dichotomies of:
- Extraversion/Introversion
- Sensing/Intuition
- Thinking/Feeling
- Judging/Perceiving
One of the most common used categorizations for determining a learning style in children is Fleming’s VARK model. It discusses the differences and strengths in learning types such as:
- visual learners
- auditory learners
- reading/writing-preference learners
- kinesthetic learners or tactile learners
There have been many, many professionals and scientific studies completed on learning styles and many detractors and professors. In the end, though, a little common sense can go a long way.
If you notice that your child spaces and doodles the entire time that a teacher lectures, but devours the accompanying reading material, then it is quite probable that your child learns best when reading the material. If your child is easily distracted and annoyed with text books but can comprehend and repeat back a lecture topic, then your child probably enjoys learning by listening.
You don’t necessarily need a barrage of tests to find your child’s learning style, but you do need to pay attention to your child and observe what he or she naturally prefers.
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