Mercury449 Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 I know it might be early (he's 3.5) but I'm trying to figure out what type of learner my son is. He can sit still to do a tracing work sheet, sings along with SSL in the car and can sit in my lap listening to books for at least 30 minutes (haven't gone beyond that). I am very much a visual person and struggled in math big-time. In fact, I'm thinking now that I probably have that dyscalculia. So I've been teaching him in a visual way thinking that I'm being so insightful and making it so much better for him than it was for me. However, I've noticed that he doesn't seem to be taking to it. For example, I made these cute numbered, laminated dog stickers so he could line the dogs up according the number on them. He can rattle off 1-20 no problem most of the time, but he couldn't put the number 5 dog after the 4. So.... auditory? And if he IS auditory, he's still going to have to see and manipulate numbers in life so how do I approach this? Does this mean he will be more of an abstract thinker when it comes to math? Also, when doing crafts or drawing, he always wants to watch ME do it. I've never met a kid that doesn't love coloring. He does like legos, blocks and that sort of thing though. Maybe if I put numbers on some Duplo.... Anyway, I'm just wondering if there's anything I need to know here or if someone reading this can tell me what the deal is. Also, if he is an auditory learner, what math programs and/or curricula would cater to that? Thanks All! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 I would not be worrying so much about what kind of learner he is at this point. I would be working on a lot of hands on learning regarding subitization skills. Read some of the things Ronit Bird has written regarding subitization skills, especially if you have dyscalculia. Ronit Bird is great even if your child doesn't have any issues with math and her works may help you, too. Maybe look at some you tube videos for using cuisinaire rods and unix blocks and other manipulatives. Play with him. Help him see the numbers all around him. When a child that young is "counting" to 20, frequently they are just parroting back the sounds. They don't actually link the sounds they are making with an understanding that each of those sounds corresponds to a quantity. In other words, just saying 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...doesn't mean the child then understands that 4 means 4 OF something and 5 means you have one more something than if you had 4. They are just sounds and possibly the symbols, but there is not necessarily any understanding that those sounds and symbols represent amounts. That type of understanding may come early to some kids but for many it may take more time. Working with manipulatives can help. Your child is very little. Its great that you want to make sure he doesn't have the struggles you did. Just don't kill his interest in learning by overwhelming him or stressing at this point. Give him plenty of time to learn to make one on one relationships. Some kids don't get one on one relationships until much later. Here are a couple of links that might help: http://www.ronitbird.com/ http://mathfour.com/ Hugs and good luck. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 He may be too young to determine what kind of learner he is. I have two kinesthetic learners and two auditory learners. My auditory learners are very easy to teach and they enjoy traditional schoolwork. In fact, we read somewhere that they end up with the highest GPA of any learning style in college. I couldn't believe how much of a difference it was until I taught both learning styles. My auditory learners do really well with the Charlotte Mason method...or most of the Well-trained Mind recommendations. Mine also have excellent memories. One of them mentioned a story about Augustus Caesar the other day...we read about him over a year ago. I couldn't believe she remembered that story. It was just out of the blue. My kinesthetic learners can't even remember books we've read in the recent past. I also stopped read-alouds with one of my kinesthetic learners. He told me that he honestly doesn't like to be read to. Whereas my auditory learners will beg to do a read-aloud... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 At that age, kinesthetic is probably the way to go. The watching is a good thing. It'll help you teach in three parts: demonstrate, ask to be shown, and having him work independently. You show him how to manipulate the items, you ask him to show you in various ways, and then he's able to work alone. The more hands on, the better, I've found. Most young children learn best when they have 3 or more senses involved (sight, sound, touch at the minimum). Let him touch and work with things (instead of stickers, maybe pencils to move around?), talk with him, play with the items in micro steps. He knows and understands the concept of 1. Work on the concept of 2, the concept of 0...slowly build up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah0000 Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 My oldest is 3.5 as well. I've noticed that he learns new skills in what appears to be "out of the blue." I don't think it has much to do with learning style at this point, but more like what he is ready to understand. Just like in the baby and toddler years when they all of a sudden can do something. I feel like my 3.5 year old is still like that. I do teach him, but its mostly just showing him something and waiting until he starts doing it himself. We use a lot of hands on, visual, and aural resources. But, a couple months ago my son watched a Hoffman Piano video teaching Hot Cross Buns and immediately went to the piano and played it. I *think* he's starting to show signs of being a more visual leaner so maybe over the next couple years is when they start showing preferences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 I *think* he's starting to show signs of being a more visual leaner so maybe over the next couple years is when they start showing preferences. It seemed like mine were about 5-6 when I noticed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 I could tell what type of learners mine were when they were 3 - the first is kinaesthetic and the second is visual. However, despite this I think all children should be taught using all methods and as preschoolers kinaesthetically as much as possible. Like my second child I am very much visual. Number correspondence comes with practice - can he count objects moving them as he counts? Does he understand that a number always relates to a quantity (and therefore kinaesthetic is very important here)? Can he name the numerals in order and out of order just like letters of the alphabet? Can he match a numeral with the correct number of items using numbers less than 5? There are a lot of skills he needs to order dogs by their numerals - if he is auditory then when counting objects he should always say the numbers aloud or you can play songs to help him or use rhymes, but quite frankly he should be seeing it, feeling it and hearing it at this age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Check what the cognitive science research actually says about learning styles --https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sIv9rz2NTUk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercury449 Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 "can he count objects moving them as he counts? Does he understand that a number always relates to a quantity (and therefore kinaesthetic is very important here)? Can he name the numerals in order and out of order just like letters of the alphabet? Can he match a numeral with the correct number of items using numbers less than 5? " Yes, he does understand that a number is a quantity, but as for the number symbol (as I've recently discovered), he's not as quick on that. And he cannot order, say plastic numbers very well either so I'm trying to slip things like that in during the day. He CAN count objects and move them as he counts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercury449 Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 I don't think I did that quote thing right. Oh, well, I tried! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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