A big step to your homeschooling success is determining your child’s learning style. Most kids naturally have one that works best for them, which means that they understand and remember information better when they learn in the way that they are naturally inclined to. Most people are not 100% in any one style, but they do tend to lean more heavily toward certain ones than others.

What is Your Child’s Learning Style?

There are four main learning styles: visual, kinesthetic, tactile, and auditory. Review the traits of all of them and determine which one or two sounds most like how your child tends to learn.

Visual

Visual learners tend to take in and retain information best through images like diagrams, maps, and videos. Watching videos, drawing pictures or constructing diagrams can help them remember what they learn.

These kids tend to learn best when they take notes, make lists, highlight important information, and sketch out their ideas. They need quiet to study best.

Kinesthetic

Kinesthetic learners are hands-on learners. They learn best by doing things and being active. They are usually very good at sports, dance, and drama.

They don’t usually like sitting still and they may fidget a lot. They often like to multi-task and they prefer to listen to music or watch TV while they are studying.

Being active can help them remember things better. For example, these kids may do better practicing their math skills while playing instead of sitting still. Sitting still can actually make it harder for them to focus.

Tactile

Tactile learners are like kinesthetic learners in that they also learn best by being hands-on. The difference is that tactile learners learn through their senses.

These are the kids who like to manipulate things like puzzle pieces. They learn best by touching and feeling. Good teaching tips include letting a child “write” out their spelling words with their finger in whipped cream or finger paint, using beans for counting in order to practice math skills, or drawing maps with crayons when studying geography.

Auditory

Auditory learners learn through sound. These kids learn best by listening to lessons and being read-aloud to. They most likely enjoy listening to music and they usually respond well to verbal instructions.

Auditory learners may find it easier to read something out loud to themselves when they’re trying to understand a new concept.

Now that you understand these four basic learning styles, which one do you think best fits your child? How will you use that to create lesson plans that will keep them focused?