We should care about Learning Styles because they affect every age level and every part of our lives.

 

Your learning styles make up who you are. They include your interests, your personality, the way your brain processes information, and all of your natural gifts and abilities.

 

Learning Styles are about coaching our children to discover who they are as unique

creations. When we honor our children's learning styles we acknowledge the way they are made.

 

How else can our children grow up with confidence in their abilities? Will they become confident, happy adults if they are constantly learning that they are not good enough? That they aren't measuring up? That they are not working to potential?

 

Millions of children are learning at this very moment in classrooms around the country that they are not smart, not serious, not motivated, not capable, and have nothing to contribute. How can that be? Aren't these the same kids that were so smart when they were 2, 3 and 4 years old?

 

It is because, despite all the rhetoric about each child being an individual, our classrooms continue the one-size-fits-all model of education. The kids who need to move are labeled hyperactive or ADHD; those who need time to reflect and ponder are labeled ADD; those who need to verbalize and ask lots of questions are labeled impulsive; those who need to discuss or have conversations in order to learn are labeled disruptive. Students who are not ready to read or write at 4 or 5 or 6 years of age are forced, then labeled dyslexic. Kids who are tortured by workbooks and desks and book reports are labeled lazy or slow or unmotivated or disrespectful, or all of these.

 

Did you know that the majority of people in the population are hands-on, experiential learners? Only a few are print learners: read-the textbook-and-answer-the-questions types of learners. So why are classrooms set up to only shine the spotlight on those lucky three to five students who have the "magic" learning style combination for school?

 

Those hands-on, experiential learners are our potential inventors, scientists, entrepreneurs, musicians, poets, philosophers, artists of all kinds, missionaries, and creative people. They share the same learning styles as Einstein and similar brilliant

people whom we admire. They are the students who are often labeled with a learning disability, who experience failure almost daily in school, and who don't realize how smart they are and that they have unlimited possibilities. What a tragedy!

 

Each child's special learning styles need to be acknowledged and encouraged if each child is to grow up to be the person he/she is meant to be.

 

I believe that parents have an obligation to protect their children from damaging school experiences that keep them from becoming the people they are meant to be. And teachers also have an obligation to bring out the star in every child by nurturing their learning styles.

 

This is my challenge to all parents, teachers, and schools in this new year: Can we transform the education of our youth? Can we truly prepare our students for success in life?

 

It will only happen if we honor the differences in each child, if we look at their learning styles and meet their individual learning needs.

 

by Mariaemma Pelullo-Willis, M.S., copyright 2011 by Willis & Hodson, Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

 

www.solimaracademy.com - we customize learning programs to meet individual student needs

 

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten! 


 

Contact us: 805-648-1739, info@learningsuccesscoach.com

I just heard about President Obama's proposal for all states to require mandatory high school attendance to age 18-years old. It's currently16-years old in most states.

 

I can't help but gasp at the understanding gap--make that understanding gulch--between those who have enough of the right stuff to graduate from high school and those who don't. In spite of the fact that many who did make it through say it was boring and that ultimately they "just learned how to play the game teachers wanted them to play," most of them are ardent supporters of the system. Politicians are making laws to shore up the system and take standardized tests that they couldn't pass the standardized tests they think kids should be taking. Most teachers, comfortable themselves with reading and rote learning, are still insisting that the best way to educate all of our young people is to keep them at desks with their noses in books, giving them exams, handing out grades, and berating those who aren't "living up to their potential." Parents who had absolutely horrendous experiences in school pressure their kids unmercifully to excel in the same system that was so painful for them. What are we thinking, folks?

 

Let's get something straight, for the school system there is right stuff and wrong stuff, and most students know fully well what they've got. Those with the wrong stuff are the dropouts. So, I ask President Obama and Arne Duncan, who is likely behind this recommendation, What are you going to do differently in those extra two years of high school with these kids who have the wrong stuff? Mr. President, these kids with the wrong stuff populate our prisons, roam the streets, enroll in home school programs by the thousands and will continue to do so until the system figures out how to respect and facilitate learning for all of its learners rather than expect all of its learners to fit the system. If you don't have a plan for these students who don't have the right stuff, please do not prolong their misery.

 

The Right Stuff

In the school system there is definitely the right stuff, and there are two kinds of it. Students can be assured of doing well academically if they have a natural disposition for planning ahead, organizing, getting work done on a schedule, being interrupted every hour to change classes, reading, writing, math, sitting quietly at a desk, and listening for long periods of time. Eight to ten percent of learners have this combination of traits and skills. And, as much as it is considered politically incorrect to speak of it, there is great concern for the social skills of these students. These kids, although loved by teachers, are often disliked by classmates and take the brunt of their teasing, jokes, and bullying.

 

The other kind of right stuff is social. These kids have a natural disposition for group activities, hanging out, chatting, gossiping, making friends. When you ask them what they like about school they will tell you either "recess" or "my friends". They are most engaged by school when clustered in small groups in hallways -- before and after school, between classes, and at lunch. They are the kids who use their cell phones the most and take it personally if they aren't allowed to use them. Some of these kids are talented athletically and enhance their social status by becoming well known throughout the school. Parents and teachers are often greatly concerned about the academic development of many of these socially motivated students. These kids often hear how "they are not living up to their potential." However, these students hang in and perform well enough to stay in, because school is the place where their belonging needs are met. These kids make up about 20-25% of students.

 

The Wrong Stuff

There are two kinds of wrong stuff, as well. You are likely to be misunderstood and to have a difficult time in school if you are a student with any combination of this wrong stuff: you think into things deeply; ask questions; like a hands on approach to learning -- to take things apart and put them together again; like to construct your own understanding of how the world works; enjoy spending long periods of time on one subject; learn best by doing projects; like problem solving, invent things; want to use your imagination to create in art, music, literature, poetry, and/or dance.

 

There is another kind of learner who has the wrong stuff for school and who often suffers greatly from severe punishment in an attempt to teach him or her the right stuff. These students, sometimes known as the "class clowns" are born entertainers. They like to have fun, often have a great sense of humor, and enjoy taking center stage. Other students often enjoy their antics, at least to some degree. These students with highly developed performing skills have a lot to contribute to a classroom. However, the way classrooms are currently managed there isn't a way for these students to be constructive participants, so we often find them sitting outside the classroom door or on a bench waiting to see the principal.

 

These two categories of kids with the wrong stuff account for 55-60% + of our learners. And, these are the kids who are dropping out of school in droves.

Every day at the LearningSuccess™ Institute we see or hear about the suffering of these students and their families. They inspired us to write Discover Your Child's Learning Style and Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten. They inspire us to continue to develop systems, strategies, and materials that support all learners to have successful and meaningful learning experiences--and to become constructive contributors of their unique gifts and talents to their families and communities.

by Victoria Kindle Hodson, copyright 2012 by Willis & Hodson, Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

www.solimaracademy.com - we customize learning programs to meet individual student needs

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten!

Last week there was an article in our local paper explaining a change in the birthday cut-off date for entering Kindergarten. By 2014 California children will have to turn five by September 1 to enter Kindergarten that year. And beginning next Fall, a new state law will allow children to take two years of kindergarten classes.

The title of the article was: Learning at Pace of Leisure - New prekindergarten law to allow children more time to pick up skills.

So far, fine. But here's what spoiled the story: "This is much better for making sure the kids who enter kindergarten are ready for the rigor of kindergarten," said Rose Dunn, director of instruction for the Las Virgenes Unified School District, adding that kindergarteners are expected to master more advanced skills than in years past.

The rigor of kindergarten??? Are your serious?

This reminds me of a clip of the comedian Sinbad talking about the ridiculousness of having to pass tests to get into kindergarten. It went something like this: If the kid can eat a cookie and take a nap, he passes!

What happened to "Learning at pace of leisure?" When are we going to stop this kind of forced education and allow kids to be who they are supposed to be developmentally? When are we going to stop causing stress and anxiety to young children and their families, for no good reason?

Four and five-year-olds are supposed to play, nap, laugh, explore their surroundings, tinker, finger paint, and experiment with musical instruments like drums and cymbals.

The thinking that is summarized in Ms. Dunn's statement above is precisely why we wrote, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten. The title is funny, but what is happening is tragic.

More and more, kids "are expected to master more advanced skills than in years past." And who made that rule?

Calling all parents and teachers...stop this madness, make your voice heard!

copyright 2011 by Willis & Hodson, Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

www.solimaracademy.com - we customize learning programs to meet individual student needs

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten! 


 

Contact us: 805-648-1739, info@learningsuccesscoach.com

Here is an article from Psychology Today by Peter Gray, a specialist in developmental psychology and research professor of psychology at Boston College, that supports one of our foundational premises here at LearningSuccess™ Institute--students need to mature into skills such as math (and reading), without formal instruction and grades, until they are at least 10-years old.

 

Early formal instruction and grading of skills actually complicates and decreases learning. By the time kids are 10 or 11-years old they have already had many experiences adding things together, subtracting, even multiplying and dividing things up. Guided by their innate curiosity and their endless experimenting that we call play, they have "matured" into understanding how mathematical functions work in the world. They have a practical understanding of what they mean. When they are given the algorithms for them in 5^th or 6^th grade, they have a backlog of experience to apply them to. The algorithms are another piece to an emerging puzzle they have already been putting together for years. However, when they are given algorithms before they understand the function of addition and subtraction in the world, the algorithms are just mysterious strings of codes and procedures to memorize. Students don't know what they apply to or mean; no wonder they can't remember them.

 

The sad truth is that most teachers, educated in schools where the algorithm came before understanding, teach strictly by rote, relying primarily on a continual stream of worksheets and drills to do the teaching. Beyond basic addition and subtraction, they don't actually know why the algorithms work or what they are for. Woe be to those Inventing and Thinking/Creating students who ask "Why do we do it this way?" "What is this for?" and worse yet have a different way to work a problem.

 

We hope you enjoy this article! 

When Less is More: The Case for Teaching Less Math in Schools by Peter Gray in Freedom to Learn, Psychology Today, 3-18-10

copyright 2011 by Willis & Hodson, Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

www.solimaracademy.com - we customize learning programs to meet individual student needs

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten! 


Part 1 of this article ended with the question: What's the matter with basing a curriculum on reading level?

 

What is the matter is that many, many 9 and 10-year olds (as many as 40% of them) are not "developmentally" ready to read  "4^th grade" material.

Their senses (vision and hearing) memory, and organizing functions of the brain

need more time to integrate with one another. So, if 40% of your students aren't yet developmentally ready for your curriculum, what would be the logical thing to do?

 

The current answer to that question in most school districts is to sound an alarm, label the kids, generate fear in parents and ship the kids out to reading specialists.

 

This solution is troublesome in three ways:

 

Trouble #1

No matter how much money we spend, no matter how much extra instruction we provide, no matter how much we bribe, threaten, reward or punish students, young people cannot integrate their brains faster than their inner, developmental clock allows. The saying, You can't push the river, comes to mind. As teachers and parents we often spend valuable time, energy and money pushing rivers and then feeling bad, sad and mad when we don't get the results we want, when we could be working WITH the developmental clocks of 40% of our students who aren't reading at "4^th grade level" when they enter the 4^th grade.

 

What we can do about it.

We can give this 40% of our students more time to practice their reading skills in their 3^rd and 4^th grade classrooms. Classroom reading instruction can be individualized and decentralized to allow students to learn at their own pace.

 

Trouble #2

We grade and rank young people on their reading ability. History and science are subjects and we study them for the information they give us about our world. However, reading (writing, listening and math, too) are skills that cannot be taught. To be a successful reader means that a child has matured into many skills that can be nurtured but not taught. There is a reason parents don't grade their kids on their walking skills, bicycle riding skills, or skateboarding skills. We would have many fewer kids mobile in these ways. We know fully well that walking, bicycle riding, and skateboarding depend on the coordination of a lot of separate abilities, including: depth perception, balance, coordination and muscle strength, as well as practice.

 

Reading is the integration of vision, hearing, and brain organization. Students have their own internal clock for when this integration takes place. It takes time and kids can't be threatened or bribed, rewarded or punished into doing what they aren't yet able to do!

 

What we can do about it.

Start celebrating all the tiny steps along the way that are leading to becoming a

fluent reader. As we say at LearningSuccess™ Institute: Success leads to more

success! Give students lots of time without pressure to develop to their fullest and

celebrate their accomplishments with them!

 

Trouble #3

Kids learn best in small doses (10-15 minute sessions), in familiar places, with people they trust in a spirit of play and discovery. To feel emotionally safe and comfortable they need consistent systems, methods and expectations. When they are taken to unfamiliar places to learn from unknown people using unknown methods for long, focused reading skill development sessions (40-60 minutes) the young people are being asked to learn a "new structure" for learning to read, in addition to the reading basics.

 

In addition, going to tutors almost always occurs after a full day of school when students' energy is low, and they need a snack and some free time, not more lessons.

 

What we can do about it.

The elementary school classroom can be the place where all students are able to get their reading needs met with the help of teacher-coaches who are well trained in best reading practices and are well versed in students' developmental stages of readiness.

 

We can replace reading worksheets and teacher-driven lessons with a systematic prepared environment with hands-on activities that students work through at their own pace.

 

Let our students move, investigate, self-correct, and take breaks when they need to.

 

It's all possible! LearningSuccess Institute has been helping families and schools set up nurturing reading programs for more than a decade. And Montessori schools have been doing something similar for many decades.

If your child is struggling with reading and you have questions, give us a call - 805-648-1739.

by Victoria Kindle Hodson, copyright 2011 by Willis & Hodson, Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

www.solimaracademy.com - we customize learning programs to meet individual student needs

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten! 


I recently assessed the reading skills of three bright, capable third graders. They have been identified as "at risk readers", which means they are slated to be told that they are not reading well enough for what lies ahead, and to be shuttled to tutors (at great expense to the school district) where these kids will be put through a series of intensive exercises that may or may not be appropriate for them and may or may not improve their reading abilities.

 

In fact, it's likely that the increased concern and pressure from teachers and parents are likely to leave these three young people exhausted, afraid, and plagued with self-doubt. I want to stop what I see coming next for these kids. I want teachers throughout their 3^rd  and 4^th grades and beyond to continue to nurture and support them.

 

This situation breaks my heart, and it isn't uncommon. It was such great fun to have these three young people sharing their enthusiasm for reading with me. We sat on the floor with our backs against the cupboards in my office. They leaned forward into their books and launched into "reading". They made sense of the long strings of letters. They were proud of their efforts and accomplishments and eager to share the one-page stories with me. It is obvious that their K-2 teachers have spent a lot of nurturing instructional time with them.

 

The reading assessment I did assured me that these kids will blossom into very good readers with a bit more time to mature, more practice, as well as appropriate instruction, and encouragement.

 

The little-talked-about sub-text to all that goes on in elementary school reading instruction is this: reading instruction, in most schools, stops in the 3^rd grade. In spite of the "No Child Left Behind" mandate, all the teachers in every elementary school around the country know that kids who don't have a 4^th grade reading ability when they enter the 4^th grade will be "left behind" to some degree.

 

Third grade is the year when kids advance from "little league" reading to the "big league", and everyone MUST advance because when they enter the 4^th-grade more than 50% of their learning will depend on their reading ability.

 

If students are not reading at a 4^th-grade level by the 4^th-grade, they are at risk of not "keeping up" with a curriculum that relies heavily on a student's reading ability and provides minimal instruction in reading beyond that point.

 

What's the matter with basing a curriculum on reading level? you might ask.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2!

by Victoria Kindle Hodson, copyright 2011 by Willis & Hodson, Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

www.solimaracademy.com - we customize learning programs to meet individual student needs

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten! 


http://www.onlineuniversities.com/10-Big-Problems-With-Lecture-Based-Learning

"I try not to think too much in school. I get in trouble when I ask questions." 

 Elementary student

Janet's teachers and parents thought she couldn't focus. She asked a lot of questions that seemed unrelated to the lesson being presented. She was constantly being told to pay attention.

 

Our learning style profile results showed that Janet has an Inventing Disposition. That means that she needs to ask questions in order to process and make sense of the information.

 

Sometimes it can seem that the questions have nothing to do with the lesson of the moment. And the typical reaction of the teacher or parent is: That has nothing to do with what we are talking about. You need to pay attention.

 

However, if the parents/teachers would ask a few questions themselves, they would see how the question is actually related.

 

For example:

The topic is Early American History - the Pilgrims come to America. The student asks, How do airplanes fly, anyway?

 

What! Where did that come from? Well, let's ask the student:

 

That's an interesting question, Mark, what made you think of airplanes while we were talking about the Pilgrims?

 

And Mark will tell you! You've acknowledged his questions and now you can comment on his explanation and encourage the connection he made.

 

Many students are suffering in school (or homeschool) because they need to ask these kinds of questions in order to learn - but they get into trouble when they do!

 

Here is an interview Mariaemma did about this topic:

Students Who Need to Ask Questions - The Inventing Disposition

 

It is our job as Parents, Teachers, and Leaders across the globe to coach children to discover their amazing gifts - and to encourage them to follow their interests and passions. It is our responsibility to ensure that all kids grow up believing that they are smart and capable, and confident about the value of their contributions.

copyright 2011 by Willis & Hodson, Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

www.solimaracademy.com - we customize learning programs to meet individual student needs

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten! 


Recently I attended a presentation about gardening by Oscar Carmona of Healing Grounds Nursery. So what does gardening have to do with learning and school?

Here is the one thing he said that I can't get out of my head:

If a plant becomes diseased or is infested with pests, your first question should NOT be, what kind of pesticide should I use? Your first question should be, is this environment appropriate for this plant?

Wow - that is so simple and yet so profound!

Immediately, my thoughts went to education. What happens when a student is struggling in school? Normally, the first questions that are asked have to do with getting the student to fit in. Unfortunately, that often means, what medication should we use?

Instead, the first question ought to be, is this environment appropriate for this student? And if it is not appropriate, then please, let's not medicate to force the student to adapt!

Every person, every child learns in different ways. We need to begin acknowledging and honoring each student's strengths and focus on those. In order to be successful in sports, coaches capitalize on a star player's strengths. What they DON'T do is force that player to spend hundreds of hours trying to build up a weakness.

But in the traditional school system, students are told they need to work on their weaknesses and bring these up to at least average. What a waste of time!

The secret lies in focusing on strengths - then watch the magic happen.

If you know a student who is struggling with school, I hope you will take Oscar's advice and make this your first question: Is this program appropriate for this student?

And, if it isn't, search for an alternative that will bring success to that child.

copyright 2011 by Mariaemma Willis

For customized school program, visit www.solimaracademy.com

To find out your child's learning styles, go to www.aselfportraitonline.com

Do Learning Disabilities Exist?

Yes, they do, but true learning disabilities are rare.  I believe that our educational system is too quick to blame "learning disabilities" and to label students as dyslexic, MBD, ADD, or any of the other familiar labels, instead of noting differences in learning styles and using some common sense: if the student can't get it this way, try a different way!

Even if the label is appropriate, so what?  No label has ever "fixed" the problem or helped a teacher or parent devise effective teaching methods.

But, a statement such as "the student has trouble sequencing two-letter sounds" defines a specific problem and allows for developing an appropriate strategy.

In other words, the bottom line is:  each student is unique, having different strengths and weaknesses, as well as different learning styles. All too often kids are labeled because someone is confusing the need for a different teaching method with a "learning problem."

Or, as I strongly believe, many "learning problems" are actually created because we don't take into account an individual child's unique learning timetable:  they should all learn the alphabet in preschool, start reading in kindergarten and first grade, do fractions in third, start cursive in second, and so on.

Why?  They don't all begin to walk and talk at the same time!

Some students need more time. Some students need a different program.

"In Their Own Way" by Thomas Armstrong discusses this issue:  "It's time for the schools, and parents as well, to start focusing their attention on the inner capabilities of each and every child . . . the schools persist in labeling hundreds of thousands of children with perfectly normal brains as 'minimally brain damaged' or 'neurologically handicapped,' when in fact teachers simply have not found a way of teaching them on their own terms, according to their own unique patterns of neurological functioning . . .

"The part of the brain that thrives on worksheets and teacher lectures probably takes up less than one percent of the total available for learning.  More likely, these stale methods of learning are actually what educator Leslie Hart refers to as 'brain-antagonistic' - they shut down potentials rather than open them up . . . It will end when parents decide to toss aside all of these labels and begin the task of understanding and nurturing their children's personal learning styles so that they can begin to learn in their own way."

What about when there really is a learning or developmental delay?  The concept of "different learning style/appropriate teaching method" still applies.  Obviously, the student needs to be taught a different way if the way that has been presented hasn't worked.

If you feel that you need special help, do contact a professional.  Just make sure that the professional will be giving you specific techniques to work on specific "learning problems," and not just a label!

However, most kids who are thought to have a learning disability do not.

Now, a person might be having a "problem" learning something in particular, but this is not the same as a "disability."

For example, a 12-year-old student is very artistic and creative, reads adequately for her grade level, is physically active and is a great swimmer and runner, holds appropriate conversations, loves animals, is alert and friendly and enthusiastic, is at "grade level" in math, and needs to work on spelling and punctuation which are not her strengths.

Notice I said and, not but!  The "and" gives a very different perspective. The and means that the latter phrase is one more part of the description about what she is like.

If we had said "but", that would have basically discounted all the previous statements about her.  That is usually what is done:  Mary can do this and this and this, BUT  -  meaning, all of that hardly counts because she has such a deficiency in this or that area, and this deficiency is the only thing we are going to notice about her.  And then we label this deficiency a learning disability or learning handicap of some sort.

How dare we think of Mary as disabled! - this charming, bright and intelligent person who has many talents that you and I do not possess.  We have done such a good job convincing people of this that those adults who grew up not knowing why they had problems in school are thrilled when they learn that they actually were, and are, "disabled," because this gives them a good reason for not having done well, as opposed to thinking that they are merely stupid.

There must be more to good education than this!

We believe that good education fosters
     - respect and awe for the uniqueness of each individual
     - excitement in discovering learning styles and teaching techniques
     - comfortableness with a different kind of education program that
        frees the spirit,
        combines fun with learning,
        views students as capable rather than disabled.

©2009-2011 by M.P.Willis, m@mariaemmawillis.com, 805-648-1739

Join our newsletter list and get your free downloadable gift: our ebook, Midlife Crisis Begins in Kindergarten!


You can find out your child's learning style profile now by going to learningstyleprofile.com - special $5.00 off each profile for Motivational Whisperer members, use discount code LSMotWhisp

To find out YOUR styles, go to personalsuccessprofile.com - use discount code PSMotWhisp for $5.00 off.

The profile is also in our book, Discover Your Child's Learning Style - it is available in any bookstore or online. Go to
www.discoveryourchildslearningstyle.com

For a school option that customizes for each child's learning needs, visit www.solimaracademy.com