Mid-week Morsel: What kind of learner is your child?

How does your child learn best?  Is he a visual, aural, read/write, or kinesthetic learner?  Perhaps he's a multimodal learner, meaning he uses more than one way of learning.  More importantly, how can knowing what type of learner your child is help him be a better student, and you a better teacher?  Understanding how your child learns best will enable you to present information in a format that most interests your child, and allow him to absorb the information.  Even if your child attends a traditional public school, knowing what type of learner he is, and passing that information along to his teacher, can help her know how to interact with him in order to bring out his best.  Furthermore, understanding your child's learning style gives you the information you need to teach him study strategies that will actually work for him.  Writing down and reading notes is not an effective study method for a child who is not a read/write learner.  Have your child take this 16 question VARK (Visual Aural Read/Write Kinesthetic) questionnaire to determine his learning style.  Then read the helpsheet(s) for your child's learning style(s).  They offer tips to improve your child's input, study methods, and output.  In case you're interested, there is also a questionnaire for adults, too!   So you both can get the most out of this school year!

Karissa