Many children have a dominant learning style, a preferred way of learning and acting. By tapping into your child’s personality and understanding the lens through which he or she best relates to the world, you can help build a foundation of success and self-confidence, as well as an increased desire to learn.
In his ground breaking 1983 book, Frames of Mind: The theory of Multiple Intelligences, Howard Gardner questioned the traditional views of intelligence. He theorized that intelligence is more than just the math and verbal skills that are measured by an IQ test.
Gardner described at least eight intelligences, including strength in:
- Reading
- Math and logic
- Forming personal relationships
- Movement & athletics
- Design and recognizing relationships
- Singing and music
- Understanding oneself
- Understanding nature
Children usually have a combination of strengths, with one that may be dominants. As a parent, you may notice this dominance from the time your child is a toddler (an early reader, walker or musician). Or, you may see a child’s style emerge and develop over time.
Gardner’s theories are now commonly translated into many school programs and textbooks. Your child may no longer do a standard history report, instead acting out a famous incident in history, (good for the mover – a kinesthetic learner) or plotting a graph of historical events (good for a spatial learner – strength in design) or leading a project team (good for the interpersonal learner).
What Parents Can Do
If your child’s classroom situation doesn’t suit his preferred style of learning, you can use the strategies described below to work with his teachers or support his strengths at home. By focusing on your child’s strengths and helping him discover new ones, you can use his achievements beyond the classroom to help him stay motivated at school.
Liz knew the alphabet very early and loved being read to. At 10, she’s still rarely without a book in hand.
If you were Liz’s parent, what strategy might you use to maintain her interest in reading, while also making sure she doesn’t cut herself off from other opportunities?
Her love of reading helps her excel in many subjects, but you could also help her organize a book club with some classmates, so that reading becomes a route to friendship, or talk to her about what is she reading. Ask her questions such as, “What other ending could the book have had?” to help her analyze ideas.
Mathew has always been curious. As a toddler he loved looking for bugs outdoors and taking things apart and trying to put them back together. Completing worksheets is his idea of homework torture.
Look at Mathew’s curiosity, strength in spatial relationships and love of nature as traits that will serve him well in his life. If he attends school that doesn’t provide a lot of hands-on exportation, ask for a conference with the teacher. Perhaps you could work together to find assignments that allow him to use his interests in asking questions and experimenting/ Homework could be an opportunity for creativity – perhaps a paper and pencil task or report can transformed into a project. Instead of answering questions about air and water pollution, he could do experiments at home and share the results in class through a video he makes.
If the teacher is not receptive to reframing assignments, you can keep your child motivated by helping him complete his work as assigned and then creating that video together as a family activity. Encourage his interests through hobbies (camping or hiking) and find out about related after-school clubs (science or outdoors) and youth programs.
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