Learning Styles

We have hit a wall. Yesterday, I called my hubby frustrated with our school performance. He asked which child was I have a difficulty with and I said both but for two totally different reasons. He said, "It seems like every year in the beginning of the year you have one of those days." I started to think about it and he was right. I was just expecting it within the first few days of school not well into the first month. I have learned that it isn't just the child who might need a little adjusting but me as well. As parents, we approach everything with expectations according to our world. As our children grow they develop expectations, perceptions and ideas according to their world - what makes sense to them. As parents (and teachers) it would benefit us to figure out how are children perceive the world they live in. When I first started homeschooling I read a book called "The Way They Learn". Nature Girl was just five and Little Mama was 2 1/2. I learned some things I didn't know about myself and my family. Especially how I learn or perceive the world. So, I decided to pull it out again and read it given the day we had yesterday. In the first one and a half chapters I learned so much. I am CS (Concrete Sequential) and Nature Girl is, as far as I can tell so far, (CR) Concrete Random which means she and I "speak a different language." (I am now just trying to figure out Little Mama's style ;) After determining what type of learning style you and your children are and what that means, the rest of the book goes on to give practical advice on how to communicate and teach to each type of learning style. It takes many years to really determine a persons learning style and that is just the beginning, of course. And all of this does not make me an expert by any stretch of the imagination. But, it is another tool I can use to better help me and my children learn and communicate with each other. I am excited to continue to read the book and I think I am going to make it a reading must every year before school starts . . . .