Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Smith:
One of the benefits of homeschooling is that it gives parents the freedom to personalize their child’s education to his or her talents and interests. An exciting way to do this is to explore learning styles.

You’ve probably heard the term “learning styles,” or “learning modalities,” before. A learning style is a person’s inborn preference for learning through one of the senses—hearing, sight, or touch. When teaching is tailored to a person’s unique learning style, he or she learns far more effectively.

Let’s say your student has become very frustrated with math, but you’ve noticed that he loves music class. His learning style might be auditory—that is, he learns best by hearing. You can help him understand math by teaching him the multiplication tables through songs.

Or, perhaps your daughter fidgets her way through history class and can’t seem to remember those pesky dates. She might be a kinesthetic learner—one who needs to use her whole body to learn. You could have her act out important scenes in history, cementing the facts in her memory.

Exploring learning styles can breathe new life into your homeschool. If your child seems to have hit a major roadblock in a particular subject, or simply doesn’t seem to care about learning anymore, a consideration of his or her learning style can make school fun again.

And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.