Learning style, how important is it??

[happyhomeschooling]

After reading hugsathome's email about her childs learning style, it started me a'comtemplatin my daughters learning style. As I said in a recent post, I have been having a hard time in certain area's keeping her interest, so after reading the recent post about a perticular learning syle, my question(s) is,
1)how important is it to test for learning style
2)what age should it be done
3)how should it be done
4)does anyone have a good resource to get it done ie:book, website ect.
I did find a website and a couple of different books, wondering if anyone has any info or excpierience in this area!

[netpea]

After reading hugsathome's email about her childs learning style, it started me a'comtemplatin my daughters learning style. As I said in a recent post, I have been having a hard time in certain area's keeping her interest, so after reading the recent post about a perticular learning syle, my question(s) is,
1)how important is it to test for learning style
2)what age should it be done
3)how should it be done
4)does anyone have a good resource to get it done ie:book, website ect.
I did find a website and a couple of different books, wondering if anyone has any info or excpierience in this area!

I've not tested my kids, you'll know whether or not your kids are learning and if they are learning, I'd say you're doing just fine.

[hugsathome]

Hi.

Great question.

I've been homeschooling for 5 years and it has taken me all 5 years to get to this point. I think in some children, the learning style is not a big deal....in others it is critical. Most all school is taught sequentially. If you are visual-spatial (very right-brained), you will have a problem with traditional schooling.

My son does very well in certain areas...so I know he is bright. But as we entered 3rd grade (last fall), it seemed more apparent than ever that the "characteristics" for visual-spatial were EVERYWHERE. I've had him tested, and the teacher was shocked at his highschool level scoring in things like (General Knowledge, History, Government, Science, Reading Comprehension, etc), but at the same time his scores on Spelling, Writing, and Math facts were so-so. She recommended Dianne Craft's web site who has books on teaching a Right-brained child.

I would love to hear other people's ideas on this subject.

[Melanie]

I think in some children, the learning style is not a big deal....in others it is critical.

Exactly! And Lee Ann is right, too. If you're not noticing anything out of the ordinary, then it's probably not a big deal. This is how the ps system determines who has a learning disability and who doesn't....it is usually based on the spread in scores. If you have a child scoring off the charts in one subject and not even on grade level for another, it is called an learning disability (which is a term that gets a bad rap and can mean a multitude of things). This is when you would need to do the research on learning styles.

edited to add - when I was teaching, there was a spec. ed. teacher at our school who refused to use the term "learning disability". She insisted that LD meant "learning differently" and the phrase stuck at our school.

[my3sons]

I used to be very into learning styles! I tested my ds, and all of the dc that I tutored - about 20 over the years. I found it very interesting, it explained some behaviors and responses, and when it was possible - it helped me be more able to make educational choices that fit individual learning styles best. However, at least in my experience, it didn't really make a huge difference in the long run over time.

As Melanie said, if there is a big discrepancy in performance and ability, it may be worth looking into, and I think it sounds like hugsathome has found that very beneficial and helpful, which is wonderful, and others may very well find that to be true too!

I think when it's possible to make choices based on learning style preferences, it's a good idea to do so, and even without doing a formal learning style test, you'll probably have a good idea which style fits your child anyway.

However, I don't believe in choosing all or even most activities/learning materials based on learning style. It's pretty tough to do for one thing , and for another thing, the "real world" isn't set up that way. When our dc have jobs someday, they won't be geared to their learning styles - neither are college entry exams or standardized testing. So, this is a great topic, and you'll find all different views on it! If school is going well, and your dc are doing alright, I wouldn't feel like you need to pursue a wealth of information on learning styles. But, if you want to get to the bottom of an area your child is really struggling with, or if you are just really intrigued with it, it may very well be worth looking into. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie