Taking the Mystery Out of Learning Styles: Learning Styles Made Simple, #2

By Carolyn Morrison

Your students' natural tendencies of touching, running, talking, or watching are indicators of how they learn. This book will show you how to adapt any lesson to help your children learn quickly and completely. Tactile, kinesthetic, auditory, and visual learning styles are presented from both the student's and teacher's perspectives.

You will discover:
--How to identify and use your student's strengths to teach various subjects
--How to teach your student to develop learning abilities in his weaker styles
--How to teach your student to learn equally well through all styles
--Proven learning techniques from elementary grades through college

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carolyn Morrison
• Release date: Jul 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9780980064537

Carolyn Morrison

Carolyn Morrison lives in central Iowa with her husband, Kevin. After removing their two children from the public school system in the elementary grades and homeschooling them through high school graduation, Carolyn continues to support homeschooling by mentoring and encouraging families through her blog, Guilt-Free Homeschooling. Her daughter, Jennifer Leonhard, collaborates with Carolyn in developing and publishing homeschooling materials, speaking at homeschool conferences, and leading homeschool workshops.

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What Readers Are Saying About This Book

This book has affected how I see my kids -- seeing their behavior as them trying to learn, instead of just trying to be difficult. Now my eyes are opened to so many things that I had considered as 'extras' that are absolutely essential to learning. Thank you! – Charity

I realized that my daughter is more of a kinesthetic learner, so I let her jump on the mini-trampoline while I showed her flashcards. Her bad attitude went away, and she called off the numbers with ease -- and no mistakes! – Sharon

This helped me understand why my son struggles with some things, even though he is a very intelligent child. – Kim

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About the Authors

Carolyn Morrison lives in central Iowa with her husband, Kevin. After removing their two children from the public school system in the elementary grades and homeschooling them through high school graduation, Carolyn continues to support homeschooling by mentoring and encouraging families through her blog, Guilt-Free Homeschooling, http://guiltfreehomeschooling.org.

Jennifer Morrison Leonhard was homeschooled from fifth grade through high school graduation and applied her homeschooling study methods while completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration. Jennifer is currently working in the retail industry and collaborating with her mother, Carolyn, in developing and publishing homeschooling materials, speaking at homeschool conferences, and leading homeschool workshops.

What Is Guilt-Free Homeschooling?

Guilt-Free Homeschooling is Carolyn and Jennifer's philosophy that educating your children through the best means possible for them is the best education they could receive, and that should not leave any parent feeling guilty about what methods, materials, or activities they are using. Our Guilt-Free Homeschooling website has become a valued online resource for homeschooling families, providing a wealth of encouragement, support, tips, tricks, teaching ideas, true stories, and answers to every question Carolyn had as a new-to-homeschooling mom. Not just another daily journal, this blog is filled with information you can use today. Guilt-Free Homeschooling: Equipping parents for homeschooling success!

If you are encouraged by this book and would like information about booking or conference schedules, you may contact the authors through email at mailto: [e-mail].

Please visit our Guilt-Free Homeschooling website at http://guiltfreehomeschooling.org for information on obtaining print copies of this book and our other book, Diagnostic Tools to Help the Homeschooling Parent.

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Taking the Mystery Out of Learning Styles:

How Your Children Learn & How to Teach Them

by Carolyn Morrison & Jennifer Morrison Leonhard

Published by Guilt-Free Homeschooling at Smashwords

Taking the Mystery Out of Learning Styles: How Your Children Learn & How to Teach Them by Carolyn Morrison & Jennifer Morrison Leonhard

Copyright 2013 Carolyn Morrison & Jennifer Morrison Leonhard

All Rights Reserved, World Rights Reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the copyright owner, except for personal use by the purchaser on his own electronic devices or for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review (source must be indicated). Thank you for respecting the hard work of the authors by not creating or distributing unauthorized copies of this work.

Illustrations by Carolyn Morrison

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is not licensed for resale. This license is personal to the original purchaser and may not be sold, loaned, or otherwise transferred to third parties or additional users. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com to purchase your own copy.

ISBN-13: 978-0-9800645-3-7

ISBN-10: 0-9800645-3-8

A print version of this book can be ordered from the authors’ website at http://guiltfreehomeschooling.org.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the parents who are in the trenches, those who are seeking to provide their children with the best education possible, especially those who are providing the academics themselves. To the moms and dads who are struggling with a child they know is bright, but who just isn't getting it, to the parent-teachers who look at their child and think, There has to be a better way to get through to him, this book is for you. Yes, there is a better way. This is it.

Table of Contents

What Readers Are Saying About This Book

About the Authors

What Is Guilt-Free Homeschooling?

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Introduction to Learning Styles

Learning Styles from the Student's Perspective

Learning Style Basics

The Importance of Learning Style Theory

Tactile Learners

Tactile: The Socially Unacceptable Learning Style

Tactile Lessons from Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan

Math Awareness: Tactile Counting

Kinesthetic Learners

What Do I Do with a Kinesthetic Child?

Auditory Learners

When Sit Down and Be Quiet Doesn't Work

Visual Learners

Visual: The Old Reliable Learning Style

Learning Styles from the Teacher's Perspective

Gateways to Learning

Teaching Your Students to Use All Styles of Learning

Applying Learning Styles with Skip-Counting

Kids Will Be Kids

Overcoming Roadblocks to Learning

Teaching a Special Needs Child

Using Learning Styles to Improve Study Skills

Learning Style Teaching Methods

Using All the Tools in Your Toolbox

Alternate Methods for Teaching English

Alternate Methods for Teaching Geography

Alternate Methods for Teaching Handwriting

Alternate Methods for Teaching History

Alternate Methods for Teaching Math

Alternate Methods for Teaching Reading

Alternate Methods for Teaching Science

Alternate Methods for Teaching Spelling

Making Your Own Manipulatives

Putting Some FLASH into Flashcards

Appendix: Seeing Learning Styles Throughout Life

Index

​Introduction to Learning Styles

We all know much more about learning styles than we may, at first, realize. We know that music is something most of us enjoy listening to more than we enjoy trying to play it, and we know that words are much more recognizable once they are on the Scrabble game board than they are in random letter order on our Scrabble tile rack. But when we think of improving visual skills and listening skills for everyday learning, we can easily become overwhelmed.

As I began to homeschool my own children, I quickly realized that what had worked for one child most certainly was not working for the other child. That was disappointing. I did some quick research into basic learning styles and began to apply those theories. As I observed my children and thought about how they each learned best, I began to see similarities to other children I knew. I recognized learning style tendencies in myself, my spouse, and other adults I knew. The more I observed, the more traits I recognized, and the more I analyzed those tendencies and experimented with different methods.

This book is the culmination of my learning style theories to this point. I say to this point, because this is a work in progress. As time goes by, I continue to notice more and more things that apply to the various learning styles. If I were to wait until I felt I had gathered all possible knowledge on this topic, you, my dear readers, would never receive the benefit. Instead, I will share what I have learned thus far, and you may apply it to your own students. I also encourage you to continue this study with your own observations of those around you.

In this book, you will learn how to identify a student's strengths and the basic characteristics of each learning style: tactile, kinesthetic, auditory, and visual. You will learn how to use your student's strengths to teach various subjects. You will also learn how to transition from your student's strongest learning style into other styles within each subject, helping him learn how to learn through other learning styles and how to develop his abilities in the styles where he is weaker.

Moms and Dads, you already know your children well. This book will help you notice even more details about them and help you use all of your information to teach more effectively and help your students learn more efficiently.

While many of the examples given here will focus on beginning students and foundational skills, many of the tips can be adapted for older students and for more complicated subject matter. For example, little boys will always be boys, no matter how old they become, and kinesthetic techniques can get through to them for a long time, no matter what other learning abilities they may have.

​ Have you ever been locked out of your car or out of your house? I have--and sometimes it was through no fault of my own. Trying to teach your student using the wrong learning style feels a lot like being locked out:

You have a right to get inside. (It is actually your job to get in there)

BUT--You have the key, but the lock is rusty. (Lubricate it, give it a little time to work, and then try again)

OR--You don't have the key. (Go for the standard back-up plan by having a spare key handy)

OR--Your spare key is also missing. (There may also be some other barrier, such as the storm door is locked from the inside, so this is the time to get creative in lock-picking and modes of access.)

I have had friends who were locked out of their cars, their houses or apartments, or their padlocked gym lockers, and I helped them pick those locks or find alternate means of entry. This book is about a different type of lock-picking: finding alternate ways of gaining entry to your students' minds. It is your job to help your student learn, and this book will give you the tools to do that job well. Together, we will find the keys to your students' interests, lubricate the rusty thinking processes, create back-up teaching methods, and discover alternate ways to get inside your students' minds and open the doors to learning.

Do learning styles have an age limit? No. Throughout this book, I use many examples of learning styles. Some will apply to young children, some will apply to older children, and some will apply to teens and adults. It is my hope that readers will