Ralph Waldo Emerson said "The secret of education is respecting the pupil." Part of respecting the 'pupil' is understanding them; learning their strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, the way they learn... their 'style'.

Think of how frustrating it is when someone wants you to understand something, but they don't take time to explain it in a way you understand. Our children can get frustrated when we expect them to learn, but aren't communicating in a manner they can grasp.

Each of us is unique; God created us that way, so we can't all be expected to think, learn and process information in the same way. There are many different studies, tests, and philosophies of learning that discuss various aspects of learning. The bottom line though, boils down to the fact that we are all unique individuals, with a myriad of different ways we learn. In teaching, our goal is to learn our child's 'style' and encourage them in their strengths, help them in their weaknesses and develop them into the person God created them to be.

As we seek to understand how our child/children learn, it helps to have an understanding of some of the different philosophies of learning. One way of understanding learning is 'how do we best take in information?'. The auditory/visual/kinesthetic approach says that most of us will learn best in one or a combination of these styles.

When children are young, most will be kinesthetic learning, they want to touch, feel, experience, the world around them. As they grow they can continue to be kinesthetic learners, which means they will learn best by doing and experiencing, others will develop into more auditory or visual learning. The auditory learner will learn best when they hear what they need to learn and the visual needs to see it.

Beyond this though are many varied ways people learn. Think about it, do you learn best by reading, having someone explain? Do you need to take notes as you read or listen? Do you learn best in a quiet place or in a busy, noisy place? Do you learn best sitting up straight at a table, lying on the floor, sitting under a tree outside? Watch your child, how does he/she seem to learn best?

Processing information involves how we take in information, how we file it, and then how we use it. I always thought it was interesting how one of my daughters liked to have the 'big' picture first, then the details would fall into place. She could make the jumps from the steps almost intuitively once she understood the whole. On the other hand, my other daughter didn't want to know the whole, she wanted the steps. She liked to know how to get from step one to step two. If I tried to show her the large picture, I would just end up frustrating her, whereas my other daughter would get frustrated by the steps if she didn't 'see' the large picture first.

The way we learn effects the way we teach. We tend to expect our children to learn in the same way we do. If we were in a classroom situation with 20 to 30+ children it would be hard to give each child individual attention and to attempt to learn his or her unique strengths and abilities as well as weaknesses and disabilities. Our situation is different though, thankfully. We have the opportunity to get to know our students style and not only that, we have the joy of getting to know our child/children and see them flourish in an environment that supports their uniqueness and cherishes their God given strengths as well as their God given weaknesses.

There are many sources and resources out there to help you determine yours and your child's learning style. Do a search on the internet or go to the library and check out some books that will help you understand some of the various philosophies. Most importantly though, take the time to respect your student, learn his/her style, and watch them florish.

As I was preparing to write about teaching styles, I was thinking about how homeschoolers teach and wondering what kind of information would be useful. In my thoughts, teaching styles, learning styles and curriculum choices were overlapping. Our learning styles and curriculum choices help us determine how we teach, or so I thought, so it was hard to figure out what to say unique about teaching styles.

After a bit of research, I found that regardless of which curriculum we use, we each have a method of teaching, a philosophy of education, a view of how and what our children should learn and a style that is unique to us. Thus, despite the fact that we teach in a different environment than most teachers, the ‘classical’ definitions and information about teaching styles are still relevant.

Reading about the various styles, made me think about my teaching style and I realized it varies from subject to subject, child to child, as well as environment and audience. As you look at some of the definitions and styles below, remember, your style will and should vary and it may not be the best one for your child. You may have to adapt to another style. Hopefully by learning the different methods that can be employed in teaching, we can become more competent and flexible teachers.

One of the sites I found on learning, discusses five different styles of teaching.

• Direct Instruction
• Indirect Instruction
• Discussion
• Cooperative Learning
• Self-Directed Learning

These styles deal with the way we interact with our students. Do we lecture (direct instruction), do we give some information then expect the student to continue the process (indirect method), do we discuss or allow discussion to occur, do we let our children work together to research and explore a subject, or do we allow self-directed learning where the student learns, researches, etc on his own? Hopefully, to allow the most benefit to our child(ren), we use a combination and consider how they play a part in their learning ability/processes.

Teaching Style/Learning Hierarchy

One school of thought in learning is Blooms Hierarchy of Learning. Bloom breaks learning into three domains: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Each of these domains addresses a different aspect of the child's learning. While I believe we need to be teaching the 'whole' child, I will focus only on the intellectual/cognitive domain for now.

The Cognitive Domain deals with the way we take in and process information, our intellectual ability. Understanding these are critical to teaching style, because we want to make sure we are teaching so the child will develop in all of the following areas:

Knowledge

recall of data

Comprehension

understanding information

Application

applying knowledge to a new situation

Analysis

separates information into parts for better understanding

Synthesis

builds a pattern from diverse elements

Evaluation

judges the value of information

The above list was taken from http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/BloomsLD/ but is in the reverse order, usually Blooms hierarchy is read from the bottom up with the most complex skill listed at the top, I listed it from the simplest to the most complex.

Your child can develop in all these abilities from your teaching with any of the styles listed above, but some are more conducive than others towards the various intellectual abilities. As you use the direct method of teaching, lecturing and informing the student, he/she will learn to recall and understand. With the indirect method, you will be helping them apply knowledge they have to new situations. By discussing and working in cooperative groups, they learn to analyze information, and come up with questions, independent thoughts and ideas (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation). Through self-directed learning they learn to put all of their learning abilities to use in a constructive manner.

Off subject a bit, but relevant...

When I was taking classes on education at FSU and UNC Charlotte, one thing that was discussed was the value of teaching children to think. One professor lectured that when we teach children to answer questions, fill in the blanks, and succeed in tests, we are teaching them to answer questions, fill in blanks, and be good test takers, but we are not teaching them to think. After the class, it was interesting to listen to the students comments on the lecture, most were 'what in the world was he talking about.' As homeschool parents, we have the unique opportunity and responsibility to make sure we are raising thinkers, not just children who know how to give the right answer.

The other thing I heard discussed was the lack of writing assignments given to a child. There is a quote I like, though I'm not sure who it is by, that says 'When I write, I learn.' I think this is true, but there is more to it. Writing makes a student formulate ideas, think through and logically order information, it helps them remember what they have learned, and can do much more if the student is challenged to write a variety of types of writing. Writing can take us from the lowest form of learning, the basic knowledge about a subject, to understanding, applying, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. It can do this because it requires thinking about the subject and coming up with ways to express oneself. But, what if your child hates to write?

Homeschooling offers many answers for this too. Since we have so few to teach, we can take time to listen and discuss issues, topics, subjects and so on, with each of our children individually or in a group. Computers offer the ability to write without having to use a pen to do so, and tape recorders can be used to tape thoughts and ideas when we don't have time to sit and listen at the moment. The idea here is to get the child to think about what he is learning, to be able to express him/herself in a logical, concise manner, to be able to rationalize their thought process, and to push them into deeper thinking skills and abilities.

Do you have a philosophy of curriculum? Hitler did. The Communist did when they were taking over Russia after Tsar Nicholas was killed. Hitler knew to start young, to immerse his pupils in his philosophies, and he knew once he did this they were his. The communist didn’t start with the young; they started with propaganda, movie trains that would go from town to town, using the media to persuade the peasants, to teach the peasants, their ways.

A recent movie was about how a man took over Europe following several world catastrophes. He was able to manipulate the people because they were uneducated, they forgot their history, their roots, the lessons from the past, and in ignorance, they were willing to be led.

We see this today, people, willing to follow, in their ignorance, a strong leader, even to their death. Look at Jim Jones and David Koresh.

It is crucial that we have a philosophy of curriculum, not just a style, but a realization that we are to train up our child in the way he should go (paraphrased a bit). This is not the way we think they should go, nor the way society says they should go, but in THE way they should go. But what is THE way they should go? As I was reading about education/curriculum philosophies around the world, one key point I found interesting were the views that you are not teaching a subject but a person and a person’s education should address the whole child, not just the 3 R’s.

In Japan, the children compete to get into the better schools, they then walk to school, greet their teacher with a bow, then get down to lessons. At lunch the students help serve one another, then after lunch there is a scheduled time for cleaning the school. The teachers and students work together, sweeping, mopping, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, etc. You see with this that the teacher is respected as a leader and yet is someone who will get their hands dirty right along with the student. Through the respect and working side by side all take pride in their school.

Other parts of their curriculum include homemaking, values/morals, nationalism, calligraphy and arts and crafts. They emphasis the thought process more than the correct answer and encourage exploration and thinking. Their curriculum expresses what they value, the philosophies of their people, and the training of the whole child verses the training of subjects.

In an article written by an Islamic Muslim about the education system in his country, the author criticizes the current system for not teachinng the whole child. He states that their curriculum was based off Western World philosophies and yet is missing a crucial point, the 'core' curriculum. He goes on to say that the Islamic schools should have a curriculum which espouses the values of the Islamic religion. He says:

Knowledge, subject matters, or courses offered in the curriculum must be free from secular and Westernized elements that are alien to Islam. These elements - dualism, humanism, secularism, and tragedy - which are peculiarly Western and anti Islamic, must be isolated from our curriculum, then replaced with the Islamic worldview of tawhid (Oness of Allah). The curriculum should reinforce the following Islamic concepts:

1. The Islamic view of the Creator (tawhid, iman or faith, and God's attributes);
2. The creation of man and his purpose, namely, to worship Allah, to be His khalifah, to promote good and forbid evil, and to spread the message of Islam;
3. Man's relationship with the Creator, that is, his consciousness of Allah, accountability to Allah, to do good deeds, to worship and supplicate;
4. Man's relationship with others, which is to establish justice, to have respect for life, property, and dignity, to develop sound akhlaq (character traits), and to show religious tolerance;
5. Man's relationship with the environment which emphasizes his role as God's vicegerent, to work with harmony with all of Allah's creations, and to recognize or discover Allah through his creation;
6. Self-development, which provides room for self reformation and learning from past mistakes;
7. Man's destination, that is, to promote accountability by evaluating our role, understanding the Last Day and the Hereafter and their implications; and
8. Development of an Islamic ethos so as to create an environment conducive to Islamic practice.

Taken from: http://www.islamonline.net/english/Contemporary/2004/12/article02e.shtml

We see from the above examples, ways in which philosophies in education affect what and how curriculum choices are made. In Japan, they want the moral instruction to infiltrate all subjects, for the Muslim, it’s the religious training. What is it for you?

As a Christian, I believe we are to look to the Bible for wisdom in deciding on a course of study for our children. When Solomon was told he would be the new leader of Israel, God asked him what he wanted and Solomon wanted wisdom to rule the people. (2Chronicles 1:7-10) As we seek to develop our philosophy of education/curriculum, we need to prayerfully seek wisdom, knowledge and understanding from God first.

Following are some helpful Bible verses:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Prov. 1:7

Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Prov. 16:3

And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.

Deut. 6:9; 11:20

And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" this is the great and foremost commandment, the second is like it, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." On these commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.

Matt. 22:37-40

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

Zephaniah 3:17