Different Learning Styles of Children and Positive Parenting
Different Learning Styles of Children
and Positive Parenting
Major Stress:
The major stress for the parents is to raise their children
and give them the best possible by them. So the parents continuously keep
asking for advice, watch the neighborhood, their colleagues, their relatives,
other success stories, etc. As parents we are not completely sure what skills
and talents our children have until they demonstrate them. Sometimes the skills
are identified while parenting and sometimes incidentally when the child does
something stunningly different like a drawing, solving puzzles, painting,
singing, games, memorizing and reciting a big poem, calculating, explaining
something, winning some competitions, or writing poetry or stories creatively,
etc.
What should my children become when they grow up?
Most of the parents get stuck in every stage of the child’s
growth right from their kinder garden to the completion of their studies. Hence
the parents try to put the child either in the family predominant occupations,
trending careers in the market or what parents wish them to be.
The parents may not be sure which skills would be required
for the children when they grow up and start training them in various
extracurricular activities apart from the schooling. The child could be
enjoying all of them but it would be stressful as well because the child has to
concentrate on the academics and also the other extracurricular activities.
We were studying various parenting patterns, teaching
styles, children learning styles, their interactions and the achievements. Some
were successful with less effort and some were struggling hard for being successful
in academics. A very few are good in whatever they do. The same child who is
successful in few subjects might not be equally successful in few subjects.
Same child who is successful in academics may or may not be doing very well in
creative activities or games or music, etc. On the other side, the same teacher
teaches the whole class but few get very good marks few are average and few
struggle to be even average.
Different Learning Styles:
It is observed that the learning skills were good when they
align to the interests of the child and the method or style of learning of the
child. There are 3 styles of learning
(a) Visual (b) Auditory and (c)
Kinesthetic.
a.
Visual Learning Style - Some children learn easily
by viewing things. They understand and remember by viewing pictures, shapes,
sculptures, paintings, etc. They try to visualize things and see how they look
like and remember them. They like to watch rhymes, videos of places or things
or activities, etc.
b.
Auditory Learning Style - These children
learn easily by listening. They enjoy listening and grasp them easily when
someone explains them about anything. Listening to rhythms, tones, chants,
stories, music, etc. are few traits they exhibit.
c.
Kinesthetic Learning Style – These children
want to learn things mostly by doing them by their own. They would like to
involve in physical activities with gestures, body movements, object
manipulation, positioning things, building blocks, making things, etc.
It is very important to identify the suitable learning style
of the children for reducing the stress on them. Otherwise it would be very
stressful for the children to cope up with the growing needs of the academics.
Juggling the learning styles like trying auditory style to a kinesthetic kind
of learner is like taking the child to a magician for a stomach pain. It might
look good for the moment but the child would still need the doctor.
These learning styles are known to parents and teachers not
by their names but in general as a practice of trying different things. Because
the teachers have to deal with the children of a whole class at the same time,
they would show a mix of them and explain the children. The teaching methods
are also not much designed for individual style of children but the Parents can
take an extra effort in identifying the learning style of the children and
provide them guidance accordingly. Once this style is identified and works well
for the child, it would be easy for the parents to provide necessary aid needed
by the child.
Over the period, the parents can also plan to train the children on
other styles of learning in a planned way. It would not be a big success to
make the child learn in any learning style however it will help improving the
skills of grasping through other styles of learning also. This way the children
can start taking inputs form the teachers, parents, friends and other
influencing persons in other learning styles and suit them into their inherent
learning style. This will adjust the children to fit into various circumstances
they come across in life at various stages and become successful.
By
Aruna
Great Brains
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