Embracing Your Children’s Learning Style Series – Knowing Them

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Have you ever been annoyed when your child is fidgeting nonstop while studying? Or he insists on blasting the music while memorizing his word list for spelling? Or worst, you feel that she is not listening to you while you are trying your best to explain the extremely difficult mathematics word problems?

No, they are not trying to drive you crazy. They are just using those ways to help them learn. Learning is no one-size-fits-all. It will be good for us to understand our child’s learning style, after which we will be able to help them more in their learning journey.

Here we describe 7 common learning styles: Auditory, Visual, Kinaesthetic, Linguistic, Logical, Social and Solitary. Auditory

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Blasting music and recordings help auditory learners focus while studying. Different tones, pitch, and volume stimulate their brain and make it easier for them to remember concepts. Audiobooks and podcast are great options. Recording lessons using phone apps is also incredibly easy. Visual

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A picture speaks a thousand words. Visual learners find graphs and mind map tools useful, as well as diagrams, maps and colour codes. So please don’t complain when your child starts scribbling or drawing all over the place. Provide useful materials like posters and sketchbooks to encourage their learning instead. Kinaesthetic

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Tell them to sit down and do worksheets, the kinaesthetic learners won’t be interested. However, once you ask them to do role plays or demonstrate a concept, they will get an adrenaline rush. Project activities and building models keep their attention most. Hence, don’t be furious once they start dismantling your fused light bulb to find out what’s inside. Join them in the fun and discuss the components together. Linguistic

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Words are linguistic learners’ best friends. They are willing to spend much more time preparing their own notes and pointers because they find them helpful. Solving multiple choice questions and answering sets of previous exam papers are some sample exercises they love the most. Logical

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Ask logical learners to memorize a list of spelling words, it will be very painful for them. They need to know the reasoning or connections on why things work. Once they understand the logic behind any concept, it’s amazing to see how they solve all the questions. Social

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Social learners will definitely need mugging buddies to prep for the exam. Asking clarification from a teacher during one-on-one consultation might be one of their favourites. If you see them chatting with friends, they might be doing their best to get a better understanding of the concept. Study groups stimulate social learners and will help them advance further. Just make sure it’s a productive experience every time, not mere gatherings. Solitary

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Solitary learners or also know as intrapersonal learners are not anti-social. They have reflective and introspective qualities, hence they enjoy studying alone, allowing them to focus better. Solitary individuals also have a habit of writing in their journal or log about what they have learned. If your child has this personality, respect their study space and time by providing an undisturbed environment. Check and discuss their progress once they finish studying.

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Every child has their own learning style, be it one type or a mix of few. Children are amazing, much more than what we imagine. They are able to adjust their learning style depending on the subject they are studying. Although they enjoy studying Science with friends, they might prefer memorizing English vocabulary alone. There are no right or fixed styles. As your child develops, they might also figure out a new learning way. The key here is to always observe and communicate with them, finding out what is best. Once you understand your child learning style, you will be able to provide them with the right learning environment. Not only will it improve the speed and quality of learning, it will be a more enjoyable experience for the children as well. Till today, traditional school teachings mainly use linguistic and logical teaching methods, relying heavily on textbooks and fixed classroom settings. Repetitions and pressured examinations are conducted to gauge the level of understanding and performance. These learning and teaching techniques have limitation. Children who are not used to such styles may face challenges performing well. Even worse, they might end up labeled with the bad ‘stupid’ word and put into a lower class. Fortunately, many modern educators have abandoned such rigid styles and instead adopted various ways to cater to different students. Every child is different, and we strongly believe in tailoring our programme to suit each student’s learning style. Not too sure how? Feel free to contact tutors@one2tuition.com and we will do our very best to help you.

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