Children tend to learn through many different approaches, and diversity helps in their overall growth and understanding. To let them develop to their best versions learning, we, as parents and guardians, need to comprehend how crucial each learning process is. The education system tends be one paint brush that have only one learning method that teaches every child in the same way. The reality is that often many educators misdiagnose many students with learning disability when in truth it is just that some children have different leaning styles. The education system neither wants to spend the time or money in putting in the correct infrastructure to cater to the different learning styles of students.
We have five senses and many persons use all or sometimes one sense in terms of learning and retaining information. There is always one sense which stands out in relation to all of other the senses. Therefore a person may have an ear of music and picks up music instantly, or someone has a strong sense of scent which may aid in picking up specific scents. When a person loses one sense the other senses increase. It is assumed that sight is the main entry of consuming material with disregard to the other senses or that learning for many persons may not be by sight.
It is very important that parents and educators start to look at how important it is to have diverse learning styles in the classroom and for parents to pay close attention to their child or children in terms of how they learn. Is this child drawn to music or has a vivid memory. Does this child like to use their hands to build things or arrange puzzles and so on. The learning styles are as follows:
Learning through Sight
Colours, pictures, and visual concepts stimulate mental activity in children; in fact, our brain is mainly an image processor, not a word processor.” (Kouyoumdjian) Parents should read storybooks with their children as they have many pictures to teach them meanings, words, and concepts. Guardians must understand that what a child will be consuming by sight will be feeding it into their minds and understanding; thus, only positive and meaningful things must be shown at a young age.Children who learn by sight tends to be better at seeing the object before transforming it to meaning. In other words the child who learns better by sight as they get older moving into high school or college level, they will struggle with reading a text that has no photos as a guide. These learners will prefer to always have a graph or pictures to enhance their learning.The school system is definitely slanted to the learner who learns in this method. The education system despite its many faults will have charts and books which will appeal to this learner.
Learning through Hearing
Hearing allows children to first detect what they like and dislike, what seems wrong or safe, and when to be alert or stay calm.
Studies have also shown that background music can help reinforce concepts, provided it is considered calming, not distracting. To that end, non-commercial noise such as instrumental music, nature sounds, and other vocalizations can help students focus their attention on the task at hand. (The Power of Context: Learning Through Your Senses, 2018). Whether we want to believe it or not that there are many learners even though they are still able to see are auditory learners. These learners listen to sounds and diction and then translate it by transforming it in their brain the concept. A child who learns by hearing will always be very good at music because they will pick up instantly on rhythm and sounds instantly. Auditory learners are unique learners as they do not rely just on sight. Blind people rely heavily on their hearing to guide them in their learning process and their hearing is normally even more acutely increased.
Learning through Touch/experiential
A baby’s first learning experience begins by touch at the 16th week of development; after birth, the child learns affection, language processing, and problem-solving skills through touch throughout their childhood. Teachers should increase instrumental playing in classrooms as the experiential touch of an instrument is directly connected to mathematical abilities enhancement of children.Learning by touch is very special as these learners like to build and feel things in their environment. These learners tend to also be very logical as they like to figure out how things are connected. These learners tend to be drawn to building things or formulating patterns and they are always thinking about inventing something or solving problems.These learners tend to be better at math and science.Blind people also rely heavily on touch as they feel out their environment to get around and they also use their finger tips to read braille which depends on the different feel to figure out the words on paper
Learning through association
Associative learning, in a nutshell, is that a behaviour can be changed through the response that it gets. For example, teachers can help children learn through associative learning that it is using descriptive words and stimulus in their environment . Students and people who learn through association are persons who learn by experience. It is this experience that the learners makes a comparison to whatever the concept that is presented. These learners will benefit greatly from making comparisons or going on field trips or watching a video in order to make connections to what is being taught.
Learning through scent
This learning style though it is not as popular as the other distinctive styles and is more utilized with blind persons whose sense of smell will also be enhance. However there are many able learners who also rely on this learning style. In learning certain concepts they may visualize the scent of what they are learning. These learners tend to be very good at science, or anything to do with chemicals. Which is why many wine investors will develop a great sense of smell for wines or perfumes. These learners unfortunately are often ignored though not deliberately. It is a matter of poor planning as educators often over look such learners. Learners who learn through scents will normally have a great sense of picking up on faint odours which may not be noticeable to an average person.
All learning styles are very important and do overlap in one form or another. In another post I will look at the comparison of different learning styles and how they help the learner. I do believe that educators can try to incorporate as many learning style methods into the execution of their lessons in order to make it interesting. Very often some students act out in class from boredom. A child who learns through association becomes quite bored from having pure visual lessons. And the same for any other learning style.Sometimes we will see a child excelling in one subject while lagging in another and this can be because that child is bored of the methodology of the lesson. By incorporating different learning styles then different learners can be reached.
Parents from very early years should pay close attention to how their children respond to learning so that they can also assist their children outside of school to develop as strong learners. Many children have been diagnosed incorrectly for learning problems or behavioural problems when in fact they were just bored with the learning methods.
If parents or teachers have any great learning activities for different learning methods I would love to hear from you.
Works Cited
Kouyoumdjian, D. H. (n.d.). Psychology Today.
The Power of Context: Learning Through Your Senses. (, 2018). Retrieved from Learn through experience.
