Not all children learn in the same way. Most anyone who has taught at least two children can attest to that. It creates a challenge for the teacher to adapt to each child’s learning style. let me be quite clear, I am not suggesting indulging a delight-guided education. What I am suggesting is that we must find a point of entry with each child and use his unique gifts and strengths to advantage. In this way, we can teach as Jesus did, by meeting the child where he is, and taking him to where he needs to go.

Below is a list of the four main learning styles, their characteristics, and some suggestions towards working with that learning style. Often, we find that a child has traits from more than one style. However, one style generally will predominate. Large families will frequently have children with different learning styles. Rather than viewing this as an insurmountable challenge, try to see the beautiful opportunity you have to both build on strengths, and to stretch their ranges as you mix approaches and activities.

You will find that by utilizing the tips for each learning style, your child’s reception, internalization, and utilization of his new-found knowledge and experiences will be greatly enhanced and vastly more enjoyable for both teacher and pupil.

The Auditory Learner
- Has an excellent vocabulary
- Is a capable grammarian
- Is a good speller
- Expresses himself verbally
- Is a good story-teller
- Has a good memory for facts and details
- Has excellent reading comprehension
- Enjoys word games such as Scrabble ™ and Boggle ™
- Often talks about what he’s read or heard

Auditory learners respond well to verbal instruction and are excellent narrators. When asked to re-tell a story, their narrations are full of detail. They have an aptitude for both spoken and written expression. From a young age, auditory learners should be encouraged to express themselves on paper or through old-fashioned “recitations”. They listen very attentively to the spoken word and will benefit from read alouds, where the parent/teacher can allow them to see the words as they are spoken.

Auditory learners place a great deal of importance on being heard-out. Listening intently to their thoughts, concerns and questions will help them to synthesize material and experiences. The parent/teacher can help them by encouraging them to be brief, and to use more sophisticated vocabulary. Auditory learners would do very well with a literature-rich environment, such as that proposed by Charlotte Mason.

The Logical Learner

- Thrives on set routine more than any other child
- Loves to compile and work from lists and calendars
- Favours mathematics and science
- Enjoys measuring, sorting, and ordering
- Tends to choose building blocks such as Lego ™, and puzzles of all types
- Has an aptitude for complex computations, often in the head

Your logical learner is the one who can spend hours on end building with bricks, or who will be found with the alarm clock in pieces, trying to figure out how it works. They will often ask “why?” and “what if” questions. Logical children are fine debaters, and quick to point out flaws.

A logical learner must understand the reason behind everything; they are very purpose-driven. Logical children benefit from discussing cause and effect relationships. With care, these can be creatively applied to music, art, literature, and history, helping him to understand each topic better. Logicals need justification, therefore, they will ask for proof that something is so. They want to quantify abstract concepts such as faith, love, intelligence. If you can provide him with a list of proofs for such questions, it will help him to better understand. Logicals do well in a scope-and-sequence environment, such as that provided by a school-at-home program, or at the very least, a strictly kept, predictable schedule for various tasks and topics.

The Visual Learner

- Prefers illustrated books, or periodicals with plenty of photography
- Remembers landmarks and faces well
- Apt at reading maps
- Sensitive to change in furniture arrangement, and seasons
- Inspired to design and create objects as a means of communication
- Has an excellent imagination
- Enjoys educational videos, can act out entire scenes easily
- Tends to choose jigsaw puzzles, knots, and mazes

Your visual learner is a day-dreamer who loves using his creative genius to express himself. He may be very sensitive to his physical environment in terms of pleasing arrangements of objects and colours in a room. For instance, he may be more sensitive to the mood a colour produces. A visual learner will tend to take pencil to paper an draw a diagram or picture when he wants to explain what he is thinking.

A visual learner is helped by using creative projects in the fine and performing arts to cement a concept. They are excellent at being able to imagine themselves in a particular situation, and are very empathetic. Visuals are also sensitive to body language and facial expressions. They benefit from a creative environment, such as that provided by a Montessori-style curriculum.

The Kinetic Learner
- Prefers to do another activity while listening to a read-aloud
- Enjoys dancing, gymnastics, or sports
- Well co-ordinated
- Tends to use hand-gestures when talking
- Inspired by toys and games that provide tangible creative outlets such as puppets and Twister ™

Your kinetic learner is a little force of nature; he is the one you are likely to find up a tree. He loves to touch things and to move around. Kinetics are often labeled as hyperactive and attention deficient. They are marvelous actors and excel at physical activity of any kind. Kenietic children are also very tactile and rely heavily on their sense of touch to learn new concepts. They learn best by doing.

Kinetic children benefit from hands-on study, field trips, and the use of manipulatives. It is helpful not to force a kinetic child to sit still to do his work, but rather allow him to stand to recite, and even to act out a scene from a book. Kinetics will enjoy building representative creations to demonstrate a math concept. It is helpful if the parent/teacher allows guided creative activity that relates to what is being learned. For instance, he may work with clay to create a character from a story, or build a scene from a reading. A kinetic child responds well to physical redirection and affection. They love hugs! A kinetic child will do well in an arts-rich environment such as that which is provided by a Waldorf-inspired curriculum.