How Children Learn

All children learn differently and with a little imagination and careful planning, you can get them to absorb all sorts of information.  Parents are important teachers and the home (where childminders also operate) can be an ideal learning environment if the lessons are pitched correctly.

Knowing how your child learns best is an important factor when teaching them because there are different ways that information is absorbed by different people - children and adults alike.   For example when you get a new gadget do you read each word first and then start the machine?  Or do you press all the buttons and see what happens?  Do you remember people's faces better or their names?  Do you write notes and lists or store all the information in your head?  None of the methods are more right or wrong, but for different people learning is easier when approached in a certain way.

Different learning styles

1.  Visual Learner:

• Needs to visualise things
• Learns through images
• Enjoys drawing and artistic, creative activities
• Interested in making models and "inventions"
• Likes construction toys such as puzzles, Lego and Meccano

To encourage learning

• Play board games and memory games
• Offer lots of books and focus on the pictures
• Encourage visualisation
• Use different pens and papers when learning to write

2.  Kinaesthetic Learner

• Absorbs knowledge through physical sensations
• Very active and has trouble sitting still for a long time
• Uses physical body language and gestures to communicate
• Shows rather than tells
• Wants to touch and feel things around them
• Is good at copying, mimicking others
• Enjoys movement and physical games

To encourage this type of learning:

• Get them to learn while being active
• Use experiments and practical activities to help learning.
• Keep the learning and activities simple and focused.

3.  Auditory Learner

• Thinks in words and verbalises concepts
• Has good phonetics and spelling comes easily
• Excellent memory for names and dates
• Good at numbers

How to encourage this type of learning:

• Make up stories
• Read aloud and get hold of stories on tape or cd
• Use words and numbers all the time in a creative way

4.  Logical Learner:

• Explores patterns and shapes
• Likes puzzles and visual games
• Asks lots of questions
• Likes routine and familiarity
• Logical thinking comes at an early age
• Can do mental arithmetic easily
• Creates with blocks and Lego
• Not that good at being creative

How to encourage this type of learning:

• Do experiments together.  Look at results and number together
• Use computers to do word and picture games
• Use rhymes and poems for children

How to introduce learning at home:

1. Make sure your children are in the right mood to learn
2. Make sure they are not tired.
3. Ask them what they would like to learn about - it may be something you were not thinking about
4. Make lessons relevant to them (ie start by counting in grapes and teddies not just isolated numbers)
5. Keep instructive lessons short and fun
6. Repeat things - it helps them learn
7. Use methods that are effective for the child and not just for you

And, remember learning is tiring, so don't push them too hard and be gentle!