Schools have evolved since I was a student, and I love that educators are working with students and their various learning styles to help them obtain the best education they can. As a parent, I can easily see the differences in learning styles among my own three children—sometimes a checklist will work for one kid, and an audio reminder from Alexa will be better for another child.
Many of us got a little glimpse into teaching during COVID and at-home learning. I also became a substitute teacher in 2021 and have seen the vast differences in students in a variety of classrooms. I come home wondering how these teachers do it all because it is a lot. But educators are amazing and have learned how to teach children in a variety of ways.
On the other hand, there are a lot of students in each classroom, so parents matter too. If you find your child struggling at school or with homework, it’s important to advocate for your student and work with the teacher or teachers to help your child be a successful student.
Check out the sidebar and consider which learning styles might resonate with you if you were beginning a new job or hobby. It’s amazing that there are so many ways to learn, and we need to remember this when we’re trying to help our children learn new things. For example, I remember having to learn about the human heart in sixth grade and how our teacher had us memorize the parts of the heart by walking through a diagram he had taped to the floor. Kinesthetic learning for the win!
How children spend time in the classroom matters too. If you have an office job, you can probably relate—sitting still for extended periods of time can be tiresome. Classrooms have progressed and offer a range of options such as standing, sitting at a desk, a wiggly chair, exercise ball or tire or even moving around the room throughout the day to a variety of seats. Many classrooms also have different lighting as well as calming music during independent work time. When talking to your school, it may be something to ask about as you seek the right teacher fit for your child.
Brain breaks are common in elementary classes, in addition to recess and specials times. If your child struggles with getting homework or chores done at home, try integrating some movement breaks as a reward for sitting and focusing for a set period. Speaking of rewards, actual rewards work great too! Whether it’s a Skittle here and there to reward positive work habits, tickets to earn bigger rewards or money, gifts can be a work incentive for some children. My older son’s fifth grade class used a class bank beautifully last year. Students were paid for their weekly classroom jobs and could earn more money for being on task, earning good grades on assignments and participating in class discussions. They also had to pay for negative behavior.
Another thing to keep in mind is how so many schools require classroom work and homework be done almost exclusively on computers. Even elementary students are submitting schoolwork online. Kids need their parents to advocate for them if digital learning doesn’t serve them well.
Julia Azzani, mother of four and former teacher, explains this being a challenge for one of her daughters and how she is assisting her: “Everything here is done on the computer. For some reason, it’s hard for my daughter to read longer texts on the computer, and she doesn’t do it as well as when she does it on paper. I have asked permission for her to turn stuff like that in on paper. Something about her writing it by hand helps her retain it better,” she says.
Math homework at the school Azzani’s daughter attends also must be submitted by computer. “I make her do her math on paper too,” Azzani says. The computer submission has no requirement to show work, so students can’t see where they made their mistake if they get an answer wrong. “I’ve asked the teacher to check the computer but also her written work,” she says.
Azzani says her daughter is also a slow reader, which makes it quite a challenge to read the required chapters each night and write a paragraph response. “I got permission for her to listen and follow along on an audiobook, and I bought a physical book of her own so she can write in it and stay focused,” Azzani says. “We now ask what exactly is graded. For example, she loves to write but is a bad speller, so I am allowed to help her with that for now. It’s the same case for geography. Her map tests are graded so that if you identify the right state but spell it wrong, you don’t get any credit. It’s hard for her to worry about two things at once, so having one focus when she’s completing an assignment helps [both of us].”
Staci Winborn, mother of two and teacher, goes the extra mile for her students too. “One of my students bombed his eighth grade math test. When I had him make corrections before turning it in to his math teacher, I told him I would write, and he had to tell me the steps,” Winborn says. “Simply by being a scribe for this student who has dyslexia, he went from an F to an A on his math test.”
I am amazed at how teachers do care and are trying their best to help individual students reach their potential.
Nicki Petersen, mother of one, says, “Some of my son’s classes had them do an entire assessment on learning style. The kids really got a glimpse into how to understand how they learn and what doesn’t benefit them.” She adds that her son has learned how to advocate for himself and that he “already has some accommodations for ADHD, so he’s already aware of what works and what doesn’t.”
My own elementary school music teacher, Susan Twedt, taught for 33 years before retiring in 2010. She says, “I tried to teach a lesson using visual, auditory and kinesthetic. That way I could, hopefully, teach the way the kids needed to learn. We could listen to the song, look at the notes and move to help enforce the concepts.”
Cara Johnson, teacher and mother of three, says, “Learning styles have been a recent topic of conversation for me! Typically, we assume or think that students learn in a variety of styles that suit them best. Some say they are visual learners, some auditory, some tactile, etc. However, some research says that it’s not about matching the learner with their preferred style, but rather getting students to process their understanding in a variety of ways. For example, if they can verbalize, write and visually represent their understanding in some way, there’s a better chance they’ll retain the information rather than just knowing you presented it to them in the way that suits their style of learning.”
It’s important to advocate for your child but to also have respect and work with your child’s school and teachers. I know that this stage of life is busy, but teachers need parents to assist with learning at home too. Reading with them, practicing math facts, checking to see whether they got their homework done and helping when needed all matter a great deal and make a difference in the classroom.
Different Learning Styles
- Visual: graphs, videos and flashcards
- Auditory: music, listening to a lecture or an audiobook
- Physical: a hands-on approach or utilizing movement
- Verbal: writing and presenting, like a book report or essay
- Logical: patterns and statistics
- Social: collaborating and group work
- Solitary: independent work
Stephanie Loux is the mother of Layla, 13, Mason, 11, and Slade, 8, and tries her best to help her kids be successful students and to support and partner well with their teachers.