How to Match Your Child’s Learning Style to your Teaching Style

Can you have the WRONG teaching style? As a homeschooling Mom, I have wondered at one time, am I teaching my children wrongly? Do I get frustrated because they aren’t “getting it” or does it seem like they are not even paying attention to what I am trying to teach them? Do they seem to struggle with learning certain things, even though they have done it over and over again?

Any of this sound all too familiar? It might just be time that you review your teaching style. Every child learns differently. What works for one won’t necessarily work for another. Being homeschooling parents, we ought to be in tune with the ways that our children learn best and do OUR best to give them the teaching information that way.

How can you find out how your child learns best? You can check out this neat little guide from Pure Flix.

Pure Flix has put together this guide which outlines the 4 types of learners. It gives you a brief, but a quick way to get a good hint at how your child might learn best. Now your child might not be just one of these alone, they could learn best in a combination of any of these ways, this is just a guide to help you discover the best learning style for your child.

This is how I used it to determine how my children learn best.

I have learned through teaching ten of my own children that not all children learn one set way. My oldest was a READING/WRITING learner. She learned best through textbook teaching. She enjoyed answering every question on each chapter and taking tests. She would copy notes out to help remember things for school. This was great for me as a first time homeschooling because it was closest to the public school system. It was what I was used to.

My second child is an AUDITORY learner. He has a natural musical ability and he learned best from me teaching out loud and by listening to audio CDs. He did well with me teaching him rhyming songs to help remember facts for school. Sonlight is a great program where you or your child can read aloud and listen to the lessons together. Topics vary from history, literature, and Bible learning.

My next child is a VISUAL learner. Her favorite times in school were the video lessons. She learned so much from watching documentaries and online short videos to help her learn. She remembered facts and information more when she watched it in a video versus having memorizing facts from lists. I wish all of these great online resources were available when I was teaching my children. Streaming now makes it easy for homeschooling parents to find movies to supplement with their curriculum. Pure Flix actually offers a weekly video guide that works well with almost any textbook. You can check out more information here and even try one month free.

My fourth child is a KINESTHETIC learner. He learned best when I had him do physical actions with his learning. We would do jumping jacks to teach him his math facts. Spelling words were done out loud and he stood up when he got them correct and sat down when he got them incorrect. We did a lot
of real-life hands-on activities when it came to math topics. Get creative and see if these hands-on math games will fit into your curriculum.

The next two children are more geared towards the READING/WRITING type learners. We focus more on book work with memorization. My other four are still young. I am seeing more KINESTHETIC learning in them but nothing really definite. As they grow and I see more of an interest, either way, we will then guide their learning methods towards the ways they learn best.

How does your child learn best? Click here to check out the guide to help determine how your child learns best.