Teach With Your Child's Learning Style

Homeschooling allows the educating of a child in the way that works best for the child. As many kids as there are, that's how many different approaches available for learning.

There are times that my daughter really needs me to be next to her in order to concentrate and work through her school work. I suppose this can be frustrating, but the reason for homeschooling in this house is the freedom to provide what the children need.

Some children cannot sit still at all, some love to sit for long periods of time. Books work for some children and others go into conniptions at the mere thought. Don't be afraid to shake things up, step out of the frame of reference that you think might work, redefine the box and you may find a breakthrough.

One of the best examples of this is when my son was having a horrible time learning addition facts. I am not a drill and kill person, but I knew he needed some help. I took him outside, used sidewalk chalk and wrote numbers on the driveway. Then I called out sums to him and he ran to the right answer. This was such a success he did this for over an hour, and begged for more. We could have sat inside and drilled flashcards or textbooks as he became more and more uncooperative. Instead, I chose to follow his bent. And... he found the joy.

We at Sweet Schoolin' want to encourage you to follow your child's lead, and not worry about where the child learns. Some children want to sit on the floor, some outside, some in the middle of their bed. It doesn't matter. My son likes to read while hanging upside down on the couch. The goal isn't where the child learns, it's that he does, indeed learn.

Multiple Intelligences

Multiple Intelligences TEST

Why Are Learning Styles Important?

Early Years Child's Learning Assets

How Can I Find My Child's Learning Style

Learning Styles and Hemispheric Dominance - Is Your Learning Style at Odds with That of Your Child's?

Left vs. Right: Which Side Are You On?

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The Write Stuff: Help For Kids Who Struggle With Writing

My son hates writing. I am not just talking about the creative kind, I mean the "put the pencil to the paper old-fashioned penmanship" kind. I wish I could say I have some tried and true solutions for this, but the truth is, along with his autism, and his dyslexia, he also seems to have some dysgraphia as well. I personally don't like to look for a demon under every rock, but we need to call it what it is. This makes things harder than they could be.

Dysgraphia is difficulty writing. It doesn't occur due to cognitive deficit, it just is. It is often characterized by other lack of motor skills. Some kids might have trouble tying shoes or controlling scissors. There are actually three kinds of dysgraphia: dyslexic, motor and spatial. All cause difficult to read handwriting.

With my son, it isn't that his writing is that messy...he works at it very hard, even though he hates it. That is probably one of the biggest frustrations for him. He did well when he was younger, but as he is trying to learn penmanship, he has struggled. I chose not to teach him standard cursive, and instead went with Italics. This has eased his frustrations a bit, but he still "draws" his letters more often than not. His writing is labored, and slow.

I have worked on introduction of typing instead, because, face it, how often do we write? I am concerned about the hand-written portion of the SAT, not because I am that worried about him taking it (he is, after all, only 10) but because I want him to have the option open to him.

For now, though, I am trying a few things:

have him work on writing less, and drawing more.

giving him opportunity to write for real life reasons: lists, messages and such

allowing him to use the writing implements of his choice

making sure that graph paper is available for math...this was a huge step for progress in neatness!

It is my hope that his writing will be like his reading...he will show the want and need for it, and when he does, you can bet I will be there to provide materials for him.

Some resources that have worked well for us and those we know:

Handwriting Without Tears
Callirobics
Getty & Dubay Italics
Draw Write Now
Ed Emberly drawing books

Open Source Education Software

Yesterday, I spent the day at the Southern California Linux Expo. I know, right? But they were having a track with Open Source in Education and I thought it might be helpful to my homeschooling. It was, somewhat. I have some good suggestions for obtaining open source software when you are homeschooling. As you know, part of the expense of homeschooling when you are going it on your own is curriculum. Try this list of sites to find it:

Schoolforge.net
Freesmug (Mac Users)
Open Source as Alternative
Wiki on Open Source Software in Education (tons of really good stuff here, everything you can imagine)
Sugar on a Stick
Moodle (open source course management system and virtual learning environments)

T, who figures that should get you started...