Learning Styles: What to do with this info?

Question

I completed a questionnaire for my son his learning style. Here are my son's results in order from the strongest point to the weakest, where the numbers were the same, I ordered them according to which one I feel has the slightly stronger bent:

Naturalistic - 7

Spatial - 6

Bodily Kinesthetic - 5

Logical Mathematical - 3

Linguistic - 3

Musical - 2

Interpersonal - 2

Intrapersonal - 1

So, what resources and activities would you recommend for him. He is "officially" in 2nd grade, but his skills in various subjects range from 1st grade level to 3rd grade level.

Answer 1

These are Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_In...

They are usually used to describe skills, not learning styles so I'm not really sure about the quiz you took.  Was it age standardized or meant for adults?  A child would innately be stronger in some areas than others, but they are still developing and results would just be preliminary.

And just so you know, naturalistic is a recent addition to the theory and not widely accepted like the others.

I think this points out that your son needs some work with his interpersonal and intrapersonal skills.  That could be a simple as asking him how the main charecter might feel during a story or asking him to reflect on how he was feeling when he misbehaved.

For lingiustic skills, you want to read, read, read, which you are probably already doing.  You may want to work with flash cardsto play off his spatial ability.

Answer 2

For these scores, I would tend to go more toward unit studies.  They show that he learns well from working directly with things, both in nature and other concepts.  I would tend to think that he'd be the kid to learn about how a TV works by taking one apart, and about how a tadpole changes to a frog by gathering eggs at a pond and tracking the results.

They do show that he probably won't learn well from a workbook method, and that he could take or leave having to be in a classroom.  Some kids work well with either or both of those methods, but he doesn't seem to be one of them.

I would also think that highly structured studies might work against him - the scores seem to indicate that he's more a "go with the flow" and "rabbit trail" sort of kid, a natural learner (different than naturalistic).  He'd probably be the one to explore whatever catches his eye and learn everything he can about it through many different methods.

Note - not sure why anyone would thumbs-down any of these answers, either.  I thought all of them were right on, and I thought Kate's answer was well-spoken.  Just because she mentioned that he might need to work on interpersonal skills - every kid has strengths and weaknesses - doesn't mean that she insinuated that he's socially inept because he's homeschooled.

Answer 3

Seems to say that he's a very hands-on, tactile learner. I would ensure that he has lots of visual resources, lots of crafting and building to understand concepts. I wouldn't push table learning at all, if so I'd use MathUSee, for social studies LOTS of map drawing, paper mache, playdough, let him tear apart old appliances and electronics, lots of hiking, digging, exploring natural environments.

My son is very much like that, and unschooling is working very well for him. I'm comfortable with it though, and that makes a difference. He'll be seven soon, and learned so much from taking apart a toaster oven that had stopped working...he's asking now for something bigger lol!

My 13 year old is very much not coordinated, he learns best through reading and watching. Hands on confuses him and he doesn't retain worksheets or anything like that.

Answer 4

I really wish I could give thums up to people. Kate you were very inteligent in your answer.

As for the question .. To put it simply, I think that you should find a good unit study and work with all of the suggestions that the pp's have recommended.

Answer 5

I have always seen this broken down into 4 broad categories: Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, Tactile.

I am not sure what naturalistic means.  

But spatial is definitely in the Visual category.  Kinesthetic - physical activities.

If you could creatively teach using visual and physical activity combined, I think it would really engage your son.

Keep in mind that Learning Styles are not static over a person's lifetime.  They will change as a child grows, matures, etc.

Visual

-- Use many visuals. For example, wall displays posters, flash cards, graphic organizers, videos, books with illustrations, demonstrations, plays etc.

Kinesthetic

--Use physical activities, competitions, board games, role plays etc.

--Intersperse activities which require students to sit quietly with activities that allow them to move around and be active

**Charades would be a great combo of physical / visual! As your charades topics, use material relevant to what he is learning.  This will be both visual and active and fun to boot. Plus it is or can be competitive.  

For testing knowledge / comprehension, have your son act out what he has learned or do a puppet show... Example: if he is studying the American Revolution, he could present a show about what he has learned.  I'd go a step further and video tape his performance(s) and keep this as a fun review.

------------ Other two categories

Auditory

-- Use audio tapes and videos, storytelling, songs, jazz chants, memorization and drills

--Allow learners to work in pairs and small groups regularly.

Tactile

--Use board and card games, demonstrations, projects, role plays etc.

--Use while-listening and reading activities. For example, ask students to fill in a table while listening to a talk, or to label a diagram while reading

***UPDATE: There is a subtle difference between kinesthetic / tactile.  Kinesthetic is more about movement whereas tactile is more about using one's hands (putting together puzzles, models, crafts, etc.)... Since what you list above says "bodily kinesthetic," I am thinking that is more physical activity all-over movement not just using one's hands to manipulate.

Answer 6

Lots of outside stuff related to bugs, plants, etc. Books on animals and biology and astronomy and anything nature-related in that way. You can create lapbooks, find a book at the library on nature projects, create a terrarium...

Of course, since nature and doing stuff are strong things for him, then combining those for weaker areas could be useful--do school work outside (near a pond is a favourite around here--yes, I've got a gr. 2 naturalistic son as well!), which also gives freedom of movement and lots of spatial/visual input. You can have great discussions there, especially about internal and interpersonal things--connecting what goes on in nature with those types of things would help his ability with the weaker areas.

I feel like I'm losing focus and just kind of babbling. Keep in mind that these different intelligences are ways of identifying preferences and strengths in ourselves. With the strong ones, we can just engage in a lot of activities that are uniquely those areas (like bug watching, playing with a ball, etc.). With the weaker areas that are causing us problems, that's when you try to tie in some strengths so that it "clicks" better.

ADDED: An afterthought: these aren't learning styles per se; they are INTELLIGENCES, that is, areas of natural strength or thinking. The auditory/visual/kinesthetic/tactile are styles--these are approaches to learning, not specifically what's learned easiest. For example, one person with a logical/mathematical strength needs to see the problems to work them out whereas another person just needs to hear and it can work it out. The mathematical strength is still there; the style is how it "gets in", if you will.

ADDED: Wow, what a strange collection of thumbs downs!!! Totally unwarranted. Unfortunately, there are people out there who like to give thumbs down for the heck of it. Of course, I know I've at times given a thumbs down accidentally--you can't take back a thumbs down when you meant to click on the thumbs up!

Answer 7

This is interesting!    

Sounds like you are going to be moving around a good bit as he investigates his world.  Enjoy the ride.  

For biology, try lots of models, virtual or real dissections if you can stomach them.   For electricity try the kits and learn as you build, or go to the goodwill store and buy cheap electronics you can take apart.  Use a "How's That Built" type of guide to identify the parts and then talk about how they work.  

For history, I've used stations around the house for my my "mover and shaker."  For instance, when we studied the age of exploration, I had a different station in each room for a different explorer.  There was a project of some sort to go with each one to make it memorable and then he put a sentence strip on the door as  he left with the explorer's name and something that would help him remember the accomplishments.

     Once we built a White House out of sugar cubes and royal icing............very very cool.  All the neighborhood kids thought that was great (don't do this during ant season....they hate to throw their projects away.) Although we should probably have turned it into an ant farm project......darn!

One time we were learning about Alfred the Great.  An activity was to make "Alfred cakes" (like scones) and talk about him as we baked.  Instead of a narration exercise with me afterwards (we were using the Story of the World Activity Book at the time)......he went over to an older neighbor's house with a plate of Alfred Cakes and told her the story of Alfred the Great.  She still talks about that day.  It not only helped him reinforce what he had learned, but it gave a neighbor a window into what homeschooling is like.  

     I try very hard to do the "teaching talk" as we work.  It stimulates him to ask questions as he goes and he does it much more naturally than if it were a sit down q&a session.  It also allows we parents (who were usually trained in traditional classrooms) to fall into a pattern of learning as a part of everyday life.  Sometimes, except for those who seem to unschool effortlessly (I admire them so much), it is a little harder for us to make that transition. So try to step outside your comfort zone and push yourself in that adventure.  Follow your child's lead sometimes.  

    I would warn you to be sensitive.  Sometimes the busy ones have different styles of learning for different subjects.  And sometimes their styles change over time. At least that is what I have experienced with mine.  

As you described naturalistic, I had visions of my son jumping on the rock.....peering underneath....reaching in and grabbing a snake and saying "YEP..... momma you can tell by the markings.....it's venomous.....SEE???? "  

Good luck and always carry a first aid kit.  lol

Answer 8

I would consider all of them for use in teaching him.

I would also look at the source of the test and see what their test and numbers are really telling you. What is the scale of possible scoring? 1-10?? so rating him could be very relative.

I would also be concerned that this shows you his interpersonal skills are not really there.

This will result in several aspects of his learning being more difficult. By second grade level, he should be able to play well with others, and get along with others his own age, as well as have a measure of respect for the authorities in his life (you- among others)

As his baseline information comes from the authority figures inhis life, and his habits around discipline and right/wrong will also be from you/them, he needs to develop the skills to listen, interact, and give respect to others around him.

When I say authority and respect, I do not mean the "do not question me, do as I say or you get a spanking" sort of authority.

Best of luck

Kay