by Susan Lee |
As a mother who has home schooled all my four children from preschool until the secondary level I could not help but notice that every child is unique and designed differently.
So in helping each one of them I could not use a “one size fits all” method. Although I used the same books and curriculum, (and many books were passed down from one to the other to save cost) there were such different ways to explain and help each child understand better. Thus my quest to understand individualized learning.
Together with other mothers in our support groups; we found books written by experts, teachers, educators and scientists that told of the different learning styles and methods employed. As a result, their students were gaining enjoyment and delight in their “boring” books. They scored better and each took charge of their learning.
There was a story of a boy who failed in every subject and was spending more time in a discipline teacher’s room than in the classroom. He was given a book that explained Learning Styles. Though he was not a reader, the teacher managed to persuade him to flip through the book. The parents were amazed when the next day this boy excitedly referred that book to them saying “Look! They are writing about ME!!” To cut the story short, he went on to do his school work happily and improved in his results.
A miracle? I think the miracle was realising - what could work for him and what could not.
We know that that your child’s preferences can give clues to you as to how your child can function best.
Questions like: Is my child an early bird (alert and fresh in the morning) or a night owl (functioning at peak in the late hours)? Does he/she need to eat, listen to music, have the right temperature, or have a clean or messy desk to concentrate?
Most of my children are night owls. They concentrate better later in the day. That meant that they wake up later and do their best work in the late morning until lunch and after. Later in their college years they studied through the night and slept later in the morning. One child was very neat and she needed a clean desk to concentrate better whereas the messy one was happy to lie on the floor and have her desk piled high with books and notebooks.
Somehow the present school system has been tailored to only particular types and those who comply will thrive whilst many whose genius were not allowed to shine came in average academically.
I am a firm believer that education should cater for the individual rather than the crowd. The curriculum remains but the method to understand and digest it can be varied and suited to each student.