Friday’s Hardwired Homeschool Hints: Learning Styles

I was four years into homeschooling before I knew ANYTHING about learning styles.  Can you imagine how much curriculum we went through in those four years??  Like a total nube, I made the mistaken assumption that I could pick a curriculum that fit with our values system and budget and it would magically work with my kiddos.  Au contraire!

Once I understood that we all learn in different unique ways, and that curriculum could be matched to our particular style, I was in homeschool heaven.  So, just in case you are in the dark like I was, or maybe just need a refresher, I’m going to focus today’s HHH on some tools and sites that will help you determine your child’s (and yours!) learning style and make the most of it this homeschool year….

• Discover Your Child’s Learning Style: Children Learn in Unique Ways – Here’s the Key to Every Child’s Learning Success – The first tool is a non-hardwired resource – - one of those antiquated beauties we call a book.  But it is one that every homeschool library should own.
• Why Are Learning Styles Important – A good article on the Sonlight website to give an overview of why this stuff is important in the first place
• Learning-Success Homeschool Program – This is a customizable homeschool program based on your child’s learning style. Includes a full learning style profile of each child enrolled
• Index of Learning Styles – This is a self test – - good for parents or older children who are able to monitor their own preferences
• Learning Styles Chart – this is a chart/questionnaire covering the three main learning styles: visual, auditory, tactile/kinesthetic
• Multiple Intelligences for Children – Answer these questions to determine your child’s learning style based on the multiple intelligences theory
• Left vs Right – Another important aspect of how we learn is the hemispheric dominance of our brain.  Are you a right-brained learner or a left brained learner? (Side note: Terrific book alert! Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World)
• Let’s Learn About Learning Styles – one of my favorite links for a terrific overall overview of learning styles and your child
• Learning Styles Assessment – this is a program designed by a homeschooling family to help you determine your child’s learning style.  You administer and score the test yourself.
• HomeschoolingBooks.com – homeschool store that categorizes all books and curriculum by learning style
• Homeschooling With Style – ooohhh, personal plug alert!  Is that allowed?  This article, written by moi, highlights how an online multimedia curriculum can appeal to all three (VAT) learning styles

Hope these links, at the start of a new homeschool year, will help you get focused on how to help your child reach his or her full potential.  Trust me….it is going to be a great year for homeschooling!!