School Skills – Learning Styles

You’ve probably heard about learning styles. Your learning styles describe the ways that you best learn new information. It could be you learn best by seeing something or hearing. Some people learn best when there’s a physical activity attached.

In the beginning, as the curriculum was coming together, my son and I had to figure out what his real learning styles were and how to take advantage of those. I didn’t limit it to just the standard styles you can find on websites across the net. Instead, I focused on what really worked to get him interested in new stuff. Then I looked at what worked to help him understand, remember and use all that knowledge.

He is a literal, concrete thinker. Right away, I had to abandon all my daydreams of inquiry based lessons. There was no way he could start with something vague and get any traction. He also does best with a dose of silly humor in the lesson (thank goodness for the Crash Course series). He can remember anything he reads or sees. He remembers what he hears only when there are visuals attached.

The other thing we found, quickly, is that he understands new stuff better when he has to immediately use it. So, all videos and reading needed to include a list of short answer questions, some type of summary or another activity.

All those fun crafty type projects people normally associate with home school? We don’t do those. I am still hopeful that by the end of the year we can incorporate a wider variety of lessons. But for now, what we’re doing works for my son, and that’s what really matters.