Win at Homeschooling: Be a Student of your Student

Now it is time to get to know and really observe your kids. This may be an easy step for you or you may want to take some time to really observe and think about some things you had not previously when it comes to your child’s makeup. It is important to know what makes each child tick so that you can avoid frustrations down the road.

Take me to the Links and Resources!

5 things to know about your student

This is just a starting place with 4 key categories to know and observe about your child before buying any curriculum. You do not need to stop here, and the learning never ends. Your child will grow and evolve, as will their learning style, learning stage, and how they handle different situations. As your child grows and changes, your homeschool should also adapt to meet their needs.

1. Learning Styles

We all process information differently and these different learning styles are characterized by 4 things: Visual, Auditory, Read/Write/Kinesthetic. Do not box your child into one of these styles, but be aware of which ones work best for them, for ideas on how to best engage them, and explore the world around them. They may use more than one and they can change over time.

If you need some help discerning how your child learns best, there are quizzes out there to help you figure it out. None of them are perfect so try a few if you are still unclear. (link list below)

Are they Right or Left Brained?

2. Stages of Learning

Keep in mind the stages of learning. Not only do kids go through different stages of development as they mature, but we all go through these stages when we learn anything new. THe Classical Method focuses on these stages of learning in their approach to education. While your homeschool may not look anything like the classical method, it can be a great resource to better understand your child’s developing brain and how it learns. You can read more about these stages at the Classical Method and the Trivium. Knowing the process of learning helps us know the “How”, so we can then figure out the “What.”

If you want to dive deeper into the trivium and the Classical Method, especially in the early years, I highly recommend reading The Core by Leigh Bortins, which focuses on the Grammar Stage (birth-elementary age). The Question and The Conversation are also good reads by Bortins on the Dialectic (about 6th-8th grade) and Rhetoric Stages (high school). It is key to note that we all go through the three stages when we learn anything new!

3. Love Languages

Do you know your child’s love language? Do you know your own? The “Golden Rule” says we should treat others the way we want to be treated, but that which is meaningful to us and shows love to us, may not speak the same volume or have the same impact on someone else, and we cannot assume that our children’s “buckets” are filled in the same way as our own.

How does this apply to homeschooling? If your child’s needs are not met, if they don’t feel loved and appreciated, they will for sure act out, get frustrated, or push away, but they will have no idea why, and you might not either.

Check out the Five Love Languages, take a quiz, and read the book The 5 Love Languages of Children, which really helps with not only identifying your child’s love language but also with practical ideas on how to live it out.

4. Personality Type

I remember being so amazed at how early each child’s personality became evident, even as early as in the womb! Now we want to be careful not to box them in and label our kids, but it’s important to take notice of each child’s preferences, instincts, and inclinations.

Are they introverted or extroverted? Outgoing or more reserved? Very active or more subdued? People pleaser? Patient? Rule follower? Rule breaker? Detail oriented? Fun loving or more serious? Thinker or feeler? Artistic or more logical?

Here is a great test to take to help you better understand your child’s personality at Homeschool On

5. Learning Challenges

You may run into some unique challenges with your child. Perhaps this is why you are homeschooling. 

Here are some things to keep an eye out for:

Dyslexia – One of the most commonly known challenges, which affects reading especially, but also writing and spelling. Things to look for are, your child may lose their place easily, have inconsistent spelling, trouble reading aloud, and letter reversal.

Dysgraphia – Challenges with handwriting/child avoids writing, trouble with margins, choosing capital vs lower case, writing in a straight line, frustration/embarrassment.

Attention Differences (ADD/ADHD) – May have trouble with impulse control, extra fidgety, poor test taker, trouble completing assignments, messy. While students with ADD/ADHD are most known for short attention spans, it is not uncommon for them to hyperfocus on a task for even hours at a time.

Discalculia – Challenges with processing numbers and perform basic arithmetic.

Dyspraxia – Having to do with motor skills such as holding a pencil or paintbrush, playing a musical instrument, and may even be noticeable in how they walk or perform in sports.

Here is much more information 5 on all of these potential learning challenges.