To help your child to use his or her full potential and achieve great things in school and after it, it’s very important to understand their learning abilities. Not all children are created equal which is why they have different learning abilities and different potential. Understanding this learning potential enables you and teachers to create a unique approach that will help your boy or girl flourish, motivated to learn more, and learn better. In this article, we’re going to discuss learning abilities and how to determine them.
Term Learning styles refer to different ways in which every person learns, processes, and retains information. Toddlers and young children primarily learn from hands-on experiences such as moving, touching, or doing. As your child grows up you will start to notice his or her strengths and preferences. These preferences and strengths tell you more about your child’s learning abilities and preferred learning style.
These are the four main learning styles:
Visual – Kids who are visual learners prefer to learn by seeing or observing people around them. They watch your body language and facial expressions and prefer to learn through descriptions and demonstrations. Kids who prefer this learning style are usually creative, and they’re easily distracted. You can easily spot visual learner if by observing your child you notice he or she becomes impatient when listening to explanations, they prefer seeing them, reading them, etc.
Auditory – Children who are auditory learners prefer to learn by participating in discussions and conversation. Kids who prefer learning through discussions and talking things through are easily distracted by the noise and find out more in a quiet environment. For example, you might notice that your child prefers listening to explanations rather than reading them.
Tactile – Children in this group learn through touch. They prefer subjects or activities that allow them to use their hands or make something. Kids who are tactile learners also tend to draw or doodle to remember something.
Kinesthetic – Refers to learning by doing and moving. Children in this group learn through physical sensations and don’t have the patience to sit for a longer period. Kinesthetic learners learn best while exploring the world around them.
However, parents can’t determine their child’s learning ability and styles based on their abilities when they were kids. Here are some tips how to identify your child’s aggressive, strengths, preferences, abilities, and antisocial behavior:
Observe your child, his or her actions, interests
Carefully monitor how your child prefers to do a particular action or activity
Think about what type of toys your child prefers or what they do with those toys
Consider your child’s favorite activities or what kinds of environment they like (loud, quiet, crowded, etc.)
Does your child prefer when you show him/her to do something, or they prefer when you tell them how to do it?
Recognizing signs of learning disability
As you have already seen above, children learn in different ways. Some kids learn by exploring, others love to touch and feel or take a practical approach while others prefer to listen or visualize. That’s why it’s important to make sure your child is active and gets to learn from different approaches to developing key strengths and preferences. Limiting your child onto one learning approach limits his or her abilities and is not a characteristic of a healthy lifestyle fitness your child should cherish for the rest of his or her life. Unfortunately, some children might experience learning difficulties or disabilities and spotting them at early stages and working with a professional can be extremely beneficial. Here are some key signs and symptoms of learning disabilities according to Learning Disabilities Association of America:
Short attention span
Eye-hand coordination problems
Difficulty following directions
Impulsive, irritable behavior
Delayed speech development
Difficult to discipline
Finds it difficult to adjust to change
Difficulty sounding out words
Poor reading and writing ability
Difficulty understanding words, sentences, concepts, instructions, etc.
Improving child’s learning ability
As your child grows and develops his or her, learning abilities should grow as well. However, for these learning skills to develop you have to work with your child, observe carefully to determine strengths and weakness and to motivate them to work and use their full potential. Here are some tips that will help you:
Read to your child
When child learns to ask him/her to read a paragraph out loud to you
Discuss books and stories you read
Use everyday experiences as opportunity to teach and educate your child
Make sure your child gets enough sleep, eats healthy foods, and doesn’t spend too much time in front of TV watching cartoons, or playing games in iPad; encourage your child to be active and curious
Determine your child’s motivation and make sure he or she stays motivated and inspired.
Different children have different learning abilities, and they flourish in a variety of ways. Observing your child carefully and recognizing what types of learners they are or how they develop their skills help you encourage your child to learn and get informed about the world around them as well as discipline. You can also discuss learning skills with your child’s teacher.
http://www.schoolfamily.com/school-family-articles/article/826-what-is-your-childs-learning-style http://ldaamerica.org/symptoms-of-learning-disabilities/ Image sources: Shutterstock
Margaux Diaz is a social development worker who spends her free time pondering and writing about Healthy lifestyle. Her main motive is to give information to readers through her Articles. She is contributor at Consumer Health Digest since Five years. She firmly believes in the power of self-motivation. Connect with her on Facebook , Twitter and Google+