How Do You Learn?

School has been a frequent topic of conversation here--private vs. public, the different kinds of private, what we want from a school, what else we want for our children (i.e. extracurricular activities, a SAHM, trips around the country and the world).

But learning didn't figure into the conversation much. I've been watching and thinking about the kiddos and how they like to do things, and it struck me this week that they have two completely different learning styles. Actually, I had known that DS was a visual and an auditory learner--all that music, all that looking at pictures of musical instruments. He's more interested in words, letters, and numbers right now. I remember that his PT suggested that he learned that way because he was a late crawler.

Meanwhile, I hadn't pegged DD's learning style. But I should have: she's a kinesthetic, or physical learner. It hit me over the head this week. She wanted to tell me a story; I wanted to change her "soggy-soggy." Not mutually exclusive, right? Wrong. She needed to run around to tell me. She physically couldn't stand still to tell her tale. And so we changed the diaper and then she ran back and forth telling me her original tale:

"Once upon a time there were two kids. DD and DS. And they went into the woods. Then they saw a Mommy Bear. And she laughed. Ha ha ha. And then they saw a Mama Bear. And she laughed. Ha ha ha. The end."

Painting. Hand-stamping. Coloring. Playing with stickers. Playing with magnets. Baking cupcakes in the bathtub. Dressing (or undressing) her dolls. These are her favorite activities. She likes to do things. She always has. She must touch, explore, try it out, on her own.

Realizing this, I'm going to have to give some thought to how we do letters and numbers--physically counting things, writing our ABCs, playing with shaped letters and numbers to spell things and count. Not just looking at picture books, which is how DS likes to do it. I also went right out and got her a little chef's set--it's always been easier to buy DS things because he has discernible interests like trains, whereas she was rather muted in her interest in one thing--and she wore the apron and hat around the house all day, rolling out with her rolling pin and baking me butterfly and egg cookies. Bingo.

Now, as an educator, I have long realized that kids prefer to learn in certain ways--that's not to say they can't learn in the other ways, but that they have preferences. I'm not really sure what kind of learner I am. DP is probably a kinesthetic learner. I probably lean to the visual. I know my mom does. Of course, I have read some of the discussion, and criticism, of the theory of Howard Gardner's learning styles or, more specifically, multiple intelligences as researched at Harvard's Project Zero, but I think it is at least a helpful tool to encourage parents and teachers to vary the way they teach and a good way for students of any age to be self-aware of how they do things (and how they would need to adapt to doing things outside of their comfort zones). As a mom, I'm not particularly interested in the academic debate about psychology or methodology.

I'm very excited about this new way of thinking about the kids' learning, and their personalities in general. I spent years thinking on these issues and utilizing the concepts in my museum work. It's like my two worlds collided. Funny, how it took so long. But at least it's not too late.