School Part two

One of my many concerns about my son being in school; Is that he won't be taught in a way that will allow him to learn. If that is the case then am I to do extra work at home? Do we hire a tutor? Do we hold him back? Then that produces even more questions, how much is too much? How much homework should a 4-6 year old have? Will all this work make him hate school and thus learning?

Ultimately, I want my son to be well adjusted, grasp concepts easily, learn to read and to read well and most of all to love learning and hopefully love school. I want my child to succeed in life.

This brings be to learning styles, not everyone learns the same way.

Visual Learners- Learn through seeing.
They need to see body language and facial expression to fully understand the content of a lesson. They may think in pictures and learn best from visual displays including: diagrams, illustrated text, videos and hand-outs.

Auditory Learners- Learn through listening.
They learn best through verbal lectures, discussions and talking things through.

Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners- Learn through moving, doing and touching.
They learn best through a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around them. They may find it hard to sit still for long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration.

Not many parents understand the different ways a child can learn, or the best way that their child does learn. Unfortunately, because of lack of resources and staffing, many of our children are in classrooms with things being taught in only a visual/auditory way. Example: The teacher explains a concept, may write it on the board and then hands out a worksheet. Both the auditory and visual learners with get something out of this, yet leaving the the Tactile/Kinesthetic learner out in the cold. Who probably by this time is acting distracted and appears to the teacher as not paying attention.

Take a child who has trouble sitting still and paying attention, along with trouble learning and what do you think the diagnose is? Suddenly we are brought to the over diagnosis of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder)

"One Million U.S. kids may be wrongly labeled ADHA, says a research from Michigan State University. Attention Differences between kids might be a simple matter of age: The study found that the youngest kids in kindergarten class were 60% more likely to get the diagnosis then the oldest kids" Quote taken from (Parenting Early Years November 2010 pg 54)

I might seem like I'm looking for a problem. I'm not. Other moms who have a young child who is very hyper and learns by doing rather then sitting and watching or listening, understands my fears.

More information on Learning styles and more at:
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