Every child is born with a preferred learning style. Although most people can learn with different modalities, they have a specific way that they most easily process new information. Researchers have pinpointed many different styles of learning, but they usually still fall into three main categories: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.
Visual Learners
Visual learners tend to learn best by having information presented visually. They benefit from having charts, pictures, graphs, and other visual aids. Visual learners often think in pictures, as well. Color can be very important to a visual learner. They naturally gravitate to visual mediums such as television and computers.
Auditory Learners
Auditory learners grasp concepts more easily by hearing. Things that they might miss out on by reading, can be taken in more efficiently by listening to a lecture or a book on CD. They can often pick up on even subtle differences in tone or pitch in someone’s voice. Auditory learners follow spoken directions very well, and in turn, are good direction givers, and explain ideas well.
Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners
Sometimes tactile learners and kinesthetic learners are separated into two different learning styles, and other times they are lumped together. Generally, a tactile/kinesthetic learner learns by touch or movement. They are hands-on learners. They don’t often enjoy sitting still for long periods of time, and would rather be experiencing things for themselves. Tactile/Kinesthetic learners also do well in subjects that allow a lot of movement, such as drama, dance, and physical education.
One benefit of homeschooling with technology is that it often incorporates all three styles in one platform. Time4Learning has unique features that allow it to work with almost any style of learning. Visual learners enjoy T4L because it is an online curriculum full of visual stimulation. Auditory learners can benefit from Time4Learning because many of the lessons are presented in both text and voice. Even the non-animated lessons can be read by the computer with T4L’s built-in text-to-speech engine. Tactile/Kinesthetic learners enjoy learning on the computer because the multimedia format can simulate physical demonstrations.
To see how the Time4Learning curriculum can fit into your child’s learning style, why not try out the lesson demos?
Kids like using the computer to learn. Time4Learning is proven effective for kids of all learning styles and all levels of achievement from learning disabled to gifted. It also has a low monthly price, and provides a money-back guarantee so you can make sure that it works for your kids, risk free!
Posted under Online Learning, homeschool curriculum, learning styles
This post was written by Kerry on October 30, 2008
