Sometimes it's so frustrating you just want to scream!  I did!

Why is it one child understands the material and another doesn't.  LEARNING STYLES.  It all boils down to how do they absorb the information, and just as important how are you presenting it.  Understanding the value of each child's learning style and my own teaching style was my first big struggle and my first big breakthrough in homeschooling.  If I had only schooled my first daughter I would probably never have learned this lesson.  She is a ***visual learner*** as I am and boy did we have a great time the first few years with worksheets and textbooks.  I just loved those $1.50 workbooks at the bookstore, everything from math to gardening.  Anything you wanted to learn in a wonderful visual format you could fill in the blanks, color in the sheets and connect the dots.  When my second daughter and son came along and didn't like the workbooks I took it as a personal insult.  Who wouldn't like such a thing their older sister had a ball with them.  They just weren't giving them enough attention and time.  I sat down and explained how wonderful they were, but my daughter kept wanting me to tell her what they were about.  Each page.  Why were we filling in these blanks, why were we coloring these pages, why were we connecting the dots. 

Why, why why......  Couldn't she see?  Well, honestly she could see but it didn't make sense to her.  Turns out she is an ***auditory learner***.  She wants to hear everything she learns, she wants someone to explain to her what she doesn't "see".  Now in this scenario my son wasn't getting it either, but he wasn't as talkative as my daughter.  I just passed that off as being of the male gender and starting on that lack of words early in life!  As we muddled through my daughter would finally get the concept.  I noticed my son was also muddling through but didn't quite get the idea.  So I'd go back and explain again but I'd just get this blank stare, in between getting up, getting a glass of water, going to the bathroom, standing on his head!

So in desperation, while trying to get him to sit long enough to listen, I would demonstrate the concept, relate it to something he already knew.  Then we could go on. Yup, you guessed it, yet another learning style.  He is a ***Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner***.  3 children all different, who could have guessed.  God knew what he was doing when he gave me my first with the same style.  It cemented the idea I wanted to stay at home and teach my kids.  If I had started with the last 2 first I'm not sure I would have come to the same conclusion!  So that's my story and one of the reasons Learning Styles is one of the first things I want to highlight on my website. 

I believe it is imperative that as a teacher you know your style and just as important what style your student has.  Depending on how many different styles your family is comprised of you will become observant about how kids learn and if you are in a group setting, co-op or Sunday school or any teaching/learning situation you can accommodate all the styles.