is there any real use for learning style books

[Momma Aimee]

Is there any use to books like:


Discover Your Child's Learning Style: Children Learn in Unique Ways - Here's the Key to Every Child's Learning Success

and the many others that are supposed to let you determin / understand how your specfic child learns.

I have never read any. Do they real offer you anything to think about / any infomration that is useful -- or are they pretty blahhhh.

Also my oldest is only 4 -- would any of the "questions and quizes" and so on even apply?

thoughts?

[Madame Pomfrey]

Originally Posted by Momma Aimee

Is there any use to books...that are supposed to let you determin / understand how your specfic child learns.

I have found such books to be very useful - but it will depend on the type of homeschooling you plan to do. If you plan to 'teach' then these books are very helpful; if you plan to unschool or work from a pre-packaged curriculum then they won't help.

Learning styles/multiple intelligence theory has been one of the most useful tools for me in choosing resources and planning lessons for my kids. Do you need to buy a book? Probably not. Howard Gardner wrote the originals and they are available at most libraries. Our library has several others on Learning Styles too.

As far as age, I would recommend reading the theory now so that you can be observing your child to identify learning styles over the next few months - then you can plan better for Kindergarten. Reevaluate the Learning Styles again every couple of years.

IMHO, these should be used just as a flexible tool, not as a label.

Warm regards,

Lucie

[Momma Aimee]

thanks

i will see what we can get ILL -- our local lib is very very small

thanks

Aimee

[Reebekah]

2 of my boys are the same ages as yours...12/05 and 10/07......
i have tried to read a few books like that, but i have found that even with my oldest, he doesnt really have a firm learning style yet and i had a lot of trouble trying to determine where he "fit in". so, i basically decided to wait until he's a bit older and then maybe re-read those kinds of books.

[Lillian J]

I think the greatest value is in seeing how very different people can be in the way they think and learn.

This is a wonderful one - if you go to the Amazon page and click on the word "more" in the line with the author's name, you'll find a beautiful passage on what she had in mind with the book: The Open Mind: Exploring the 6 Patterns of Natural Intelligence. Dawna Markova. Fascinating and detailed explanations of six learning patterns, "personality" riddles, how they affect communication, organization, and work, and how to optimize our understanding and relationships between them.

A quote from Markova: "To be educated is not so much to be taught as it is to be awakened to who you really are..."

Lillian

[moominmamma]

I totally agree with Lillian's first sentence. That's so very important. Markova's writings on learning styles are my favourite as well.

I think that before learning styles came into vogue it was often assumed that everyone learned the same way, and if they didn't, there was something wrong with them. In essence there was one pigeon hole that everyone was supposed to fit into. With an understanding of learning styles we're given 4 or 5 different pigeon holes, which I admit is an improvement. But I think that everyone's learning is different, and that even with 4 or 5 different options most kids won't fit any of them perfectly. I'd rather just build a learning approach around my particular kids, rather than working from the assumption that they'll fit one of a small number of discrete categories.

Miranda

[Starflower]

I am going to check out the one Lillian J mentioned. But I have read another (sorry can't remember the name right now) and it was very helpful - though not as I'd expected.

I did realize that DD is telling the truth when she likes to read with noise going on. (I can't stand to read if the radio or TV is on.)

But I also learned a lot about the differences between my parents and myself which helped me to better communicate with them - even though I've been away from home for 20 years now. I also asked DH about his learning styles and got some insights into his ways of thinking.

Off to check out the other book now.....

[Momma Aimee]

thanks everyone.

Aimee

[PGTlatte]

Whether a family homeschools or not, I think it is especially helpful to understand the different learning styles when you have a child whose learning style is very different than your own. Understanding how your child learns or doesn't learn best can help you help them, whether it's teaching them, setting up activities for them, or supporting their learning in school.

I think parents can end up frustrated and impatient when their child is having difficulty and they can't understand why because they have a different learning style than their child, and they don't see that the child doesn't learn well in the way the information is being presented. And kids can end up feeling frustrated and misunderstood when they don't understand and can't explain why they are struggling. Understanding different learning styles can clear up a lot of confusion, and help parents figure out how to help their child, and can also help the kids learn how to help themselves and use the study skills that help them the most.

[Madame Pomfrey]

Originally Posted by llp34

Whether a family homeschools or not, I think it is especially helpful to understand the different learning styles when you have a child whose learning style is very different than your own. Understanding how your child learns or doesn't learn best can help you help them, whether it's teaching them, setting up activities for them, or supporting their learning in school.

You know, you're right about this. This has affected much more than just lesson time, but because I've studied MI/Learning Styles I never really thought about it.

[4evermom]

Even though ds and I have similar learning styles (visual spatial), I've found reading up on it to be very helpful. I suppose if we were both auditory sequential, all the typical schooly type stuff would work fine and I'd never have felt the need to read about it. Besides, if that were the case, school probably would have been a happier place for him and he may well have never been homeschooled. It's also been helpful for understanding dh and why he doesn't understand me, lol. It's been reassuring that my ds is doing things on a typical visual spatial time table and not at the same time as all his peers (VS people have a tendency to read later and be more asynchronous in skill development).