Doing It My Way

June 12, 2008

by Eliza Clark

Our preschoolers have their ways.

The way their smiles just beam,
The way they sing off key,
The way they haunt our dreams....

Ira Gershwin could not have said it better.

And then there's the way they like their pb&j's (hardly any "pb," plenty of "j"), the way they like to pick out their own clothes (no pants, only shorts), the way they like to stop and look at the flowers in every single front yard on your walk home from the grocery store laden with very heavy bags. They each have unique ways of driving us a bit batty. It's not a song, but it's the truth.

The same goes for the ways in which they learn. Each kid has her own individual way, his own style. The smart and wise Rhodes Scholar, Ph.D types who wrote our very useful (if we do say so ourselves) Preschool Selection eBook put it like this:

"Learning styles are simply our preferred ways of learning new things, depending on which of our senses -- particularly sight, hearing/speech, and touch/movement -- we find most engaging to use. Even very young children sometimes have noticeable preferences, strengths and weaknesses."

Authors Bryan and Emily Hassel go on to discuss the significance of these three learning styles -- visual, auditory, and kinesthetic/tactile -- for the littlest, and fastest learners around (children learn more rapidly at this age than any other!). It's fascinating stuff. And whether or not you use the information to choose a preschool, it's offers a valuable way of understanding all the growing and learning our kids are doing every day -- their way.

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