Ep 159 | What's your child's learning style?

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Who is this child right now? Because who they were yesterday is not the same as they were today. And so it it's always this ever-changing creative process of us as educators to be able to reach and empower our students. And they all have different gifts and different ways of being. And I call it superpowers. My kids all had superpowers. And so it's finding them and developing them in a way, like I say, that really works for them. Because what works for us may not work for them.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambi County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. 2020 gave us many things. After a degree in education and a career as a corporate consultant, my next guest became the owner and executive director of Sylvan Learning Center for Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach. Today she's going to share how discovering your child's learning style can accelerate their academic performance and build confidence for life, dealing out homework hacks and ending the chronic catch-up. Gloria Kane, thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. So when I think about learning style, I and I know this is wrong, so forgive me, but I totally think about like it as some sort of secondary feature of your personality. Like I'm a Pisces, you know, like it's like it's not that critical to learning, but I have a feeling it might be wrong. So how big of a deal is learning style?

SPEAKER_00 2:06

It really is. And no one is created equal. So we all learn in different ways. And so, and I think that way even changes over time. Oh. So when we're little, we learn. I mean, think about it. You see babies, right? And they learn by touching and tasting everything goes in their mouth, right? And so they learn by experiencing. And so as we get older, we think, well, we're in college and we're reading all these textbooks and we're required to be visual learners, but we start out not that way. And so over time and as we progress, we get different ways of learning. But as parents and as educators, it's very fun to kind of dive in to see what clicks for our students and which learning style works best for them at this point in their life.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

So it's that's interesting because it's like learning how to learn for one. And my second thought is that it really, I don't know if you meant to do this, but it kind of removes the guilt from parents because think about it. If you're a parent and you have a baby, okay, you've obviously been with that child since you were there when they were born, you know. And then you think, I know my child. I know that, I know how they are. But what you're saying is developmentally, that is perfectly natural for their learning preferences to adapt and change as they grow. Yes. And so what you knew to be true about them five years ago may not be true about them now. And if that conflicts with maybe your natural teaching style as a parent or your natural learning style, then there could be like a mismatch potentially at different stages. Yes, absolutely. And I'm a mama four. Oh, so you definitely know.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

I totally know, along with dealing, I never counted, but I think I'm in the thousands of kids that I've worked with through the years that I've been doing this. And so it is, it's a lot of fun. And that's how you have to approach it. So who is this child right now? Because who they were yesterday is not the same as they were today. And so it's always this ever-changing creative process of us as educators to be able to reach and empower our students. And they all have different gifts and different ways of being. And I call it superpowers. My kids all had superpowers. And so it's finding them and developing them in a way, like I say, that really works for them. Because what works for us may not work for them. And we'll say, Well, I've said it a million times this way, and they're still not getting it. And that's where the creativity comes in and says, All right, I need to, as a teacher, you know, whether that's a parent or an educator or a tutor, try to come up with a new way for getting through to this child so the light bulb will go on.

SPEAKER_02 5:01

I love how you're framing this with fun and creativity. And that really is refreshing. You know, I get the feeling you're not trying to do that in a like, oh, you know, when people reframe things and they're over positive and it's obviously a terrible situation. I just get the genuine feeling from you that you're like, you believe that through creativity, this can be fun. And it is a discovery process that has a worthwhile reward at the end of it.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

It totally is, but it's also a job. Like being that creative energy and reaching our kids is a job.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

Yeah. And so having the tools is really helpful, which is why I wanted to talk about the different styles of learning and kind of what you would recommend for parents who are trying to help their kids with the homework and getting caught up. So it's visual, audio, and kinesthetic, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:54

Yes, those are the three that we typically, I'm sure there's like a million subcategories, but those are the big ones that we usually talk about. And so, like I say, with the when you think about the little ones, and learning to me is as natural as babies learning to crawl. We don't have to make babies crawl, they just do it. And so, or walk, they'll do it and they'll do it on their not their time frame. And so, learning is very much like that. So, I remember I'll never forget my one of my sons was standing at the edge of my bed with a cereal box one day. And he was, Mom, I can't read this. You have to teach me. And so, you know, it's like that innate desire to learn and to experience in every which way. So it is natural, right? But it's also up for our kids, if they're not doing well and they're struggling, that is when it gets hard for them and it gets hard for us. And so if what's happening in a classroom or it, you know, what's happening isn't resonating with them, they're not picking up these skills, they're seeing the kids around them are doing better than them because they're very observant and they compare themselves just like we do as adults. And so it's on us to say, okay, is it a situation where they really don't know how? Or is it a situation that they're not putting forth their best effort? And so we get to kind of decide that. But this is where these learning styles really kind of come into play as well to empower us as educators and also empower them to learn.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

So, for the visual learners, what are ways that parents can support those kids in their homework?

SPEAKER_00 7:48

So, visual has to do with seeing, right? And so it's all the different things. And so if you think about even a kid's classroom, stuff is hanging from the ceiling, there's stuff on the walls, there's right, lots of color, lots of words. And so these are the kids that learn by seeing. And so we could do it everywhere. So whether it's in the grocery store and like I say, picking up a cereal box, reading billboards as you're driving down the road, or just you know, picking up a book, these are the kids that will do that kind of on their own. They're the ones that love to go to the library, you know, and as much as we don't hear about that anymore, because everything is online, but I think we're missing something, you know, because they love to see and learn by seeing.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

So the a lot of those examples are reading-based. Do you have any examples for math? Because math, although there's a number on a paper, I don't know, does that count for a visual learner, or does it need to be more, you know, tactile where we could do like, okay, here's a four blocks and that's instead of a number four?

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Well, that applies into the kinesthetic stuff, right? Where we want to touch it and move it. But for those visual learners, it may be lots of YouTube videos, right? Where they get to watch and see things, and that's how they learn. So, and it's a combination of have a blackboard or whiteboard in the rooms and they can write, but they can also see. And so, you know, it's not just always telling. So, and I think that's sometimes the gap. Well, I've told them how to do it, but have I really put it in a way that they can see it?

SPEAKER_02 9:45

I thought it was interesting that the first thing that you said was the color in the room and the stuff hanging from the ceiling, because I was thinking, no, those are just decorations. Those don't matter for education. But for a parent whose child is struggling with either motivation to do set homework or actually just executing whatever the task is, do things like that at home make a difference? Like colored, you know, pens and pencils, and I don't know how you would decorate stuff from the ceiling at home. But are those things important?

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Absolutely for visual learners. And see, I love the surprise because if it's not your learning style, or you know, you've kind of outgrown kind of the kid things, right? Then Oh, I still got some colored pins now. Right.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

And I have to change them. Like one week we're orange and the next week we're purple. And it's real fun when you, I mean, I still write checks sometimes. And I write the check in an orange pen. I'm like, you guys are gonna have to deal with this because that's what I'm working on.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Fun highlighter colors. And right, those are all visual things that empower our eyes, that goes to our brains, that solidifies it. And so, no, there really is a method to the madness for the teachers who do those kinds of things. It's not just decoration. There really is a reason for it.

SPEAKER_02 11:03

So, talk to me about the kinesthetic learners because I feel like there may be some either overlap there with visual or confusion on which one is which.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

So the kinesthetic has a lot to do with movement and doing. So, and and this especially really works with our kiddos that do have ADD and ADHD because they're natural movers anyway, right? And so they're constantly moving, which is a challenge in the classroom because we need them to sit and you know, all that kind of stuff. But when we're at home and even in my environment, I don't make them sit. They don't have to sit. So we want them engaged in the process. So, you know, if the bottom half of them needs to move while the top half of them is really focused in on something, that is okay. Right? Like sitting on a fitness ball or something. Yeah, alternative seating is a big thing, or just letting them stand. You know, that they don't have to sit, letting them doodle while, you know, we say, no, you have to focus, don't doodle. Actually, they're learning while they're doodling. And so just let them. It is okay. The act of moving, spelling words is like the prime thing. Write them, write them, not only see them, flashcards for our visuals, right? But write them, write them for our kinesthetic learners.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Okay, this look that you're seeing on my face is more surprise. I didn't really expect to learn this much because I thought, yeah, I know this stuff, no big deal. But I always just thought the wiggly's were something to overcome, not something to leverage. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 12:50

Oh, it really is, though. It really is. And so, and it's not a handicap, right? I always say when I was in college, it was like if you're falling asleep, what do you need to do? Get up, right? And maybe you'll have to walk, but walk and learn, right? Because you're activating everything in the body to learn and to learn it deeply at a cellular level. And so, really, it's not a hindrance. We just have to accept that's how we're wired, that some of us really need to do. And so for our little ones, it's having those little letters on the refrigerator so they can spell out words, right? Have them do it. Right. And so the more you can involve the hands, the legs, the body into learning, the better.

SPEAKER_02 13:45

I'm trying to remember if I I'd had something like this in school where maybe it was flashcards, but I would pace. And I think there was some at some point I was like doing lunges or there was some sort of like big motion that I was doing. And and I even today as an adult, I find that my best ideas come while walking. So if I was a kid, would that be a clue to my parent that I'm a kinesthetic learner? Maybe. Maybe, maybe. This is that trial and error.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

Who are you today?

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Oh, okay. Right. And so, you know, I like that flexibility though, because I think that everyone's in that constant, more fluid state of learning and learning each other. And like it's like you gotta shake hands and introduce yourself every day. Every day. And it's not groundhogs day with our kids, right? That's really refreshing, actually, because that means there's growth and there's change. There is. Okay, so audio learners. I feel like the world is really set up for this type of learning. And I don't know many who are set up internally to accept this type of learning. Is that a myth that we need to bust, or is there a little bit of truth to that?

SPEAKER_00 15:01

Oh no. I mean, it's still our main way of communicating with one another is to talk to one another. And so, you know, auditory learning is a real thing. And so, and you know, you think about it, you don't have words, right? But then as you're growing up, we put words to concrete things, but we have to have that too, right? We have to be able to expand our vocabulary so that we can communicate in the best way possible. So auditory will never go away, right? And but it's it's just one piece of the puzzle, it's not the only piece. And so, and this is why I say we have a toolbox of different things that we can do. So if one of them isn't clicking, then try one of the others.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

So, what are some uh practical hacks for parents to try if they maybe think today my kid is an audio learner?

SPEAKER_00 16:01

So, with auditory though, these are the kids that usually love music. So they may like music in the background, where for me it drives me insane, it's a huge distractor. But for the auditory learners, they love that in the background. It helps them learn. So instead of being one that says, no, I can't have music, let's try it and see if it will help them focus. Just because it doesn't work for us doesn't mean it may not work for them. But also at the same time, be willing to say, okay, my kid is really struggling. Is there too much noise? So maybe I need to, you know, quiet this space because if they are auditory, it also can be very overwhelming with too much information coming in at one time.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

So that's where that experimentation comes into play. Not everything that every kid learns in school they will need as an adult. And that's just the fact of the matter. But some of the things you really absolutely need. And for those things, parents want their kids to remember them, right? Because we don't no one likes to relearn at the beginning of a school year. So, what are some practical things that parents can do to encourage retention of some of those more key skills and knowledges?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

It's all about repetition. So it's just bringing them up, bringing them back, grounding them into something. So, especially when we're teaching math, it's very concrete, but it's also something that kind of morphs into abstract the older they get. So we can count apples, right? But then as we're talking about fractions, it can be a little bit more abstract. But that's where baking comes in, and that's where money comes in. Because I will often say we'll be dealing with a half, right? And then we're changing it into a percent. Well, what's half of a dollar? Fifty cents. So fifty cents is half. So that's also 0.5. So it's grounding it to something else. It's like an anchor, it's grounding so that they can retain it. And it actually means something in the world around us.

SPEAKER_02 18:27

So parents should use the opportunity for these real-world teaching lessons to like get their kid to participate. Is that what you're suggesting? Like instead of just using the debit card or Apple Pay, that they should pull out some dollar bills and some change and let the kid, you know, go on.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Oh my gosh, there is a huge gap with two things in our world today, and that is time and that is money. Because these are standards that our kids need to learn, but they don't see them. So they never see old style clocks, you know, a face of a clock with numbers. It's digital. So our Apple watches are digital. They don't see it, but it is a standard of learning. And the same thing with money. They don't ever see it, they don't experience it. So there's I have middle schoolers that have no idea what our coins are, let alone making change. And so, you know, these are things that have fun with it. And even it made me laugh because they'll teach it on paper again for our visual learners, because you can't hand out real money. Although in my center, I do. I have a Ziploc bag of real money so that they can actually see it and see the sizes and see the quarters. We change them, right? They don't even look the same anymore. And our kids are falling behind on this. It's those kinds of experiences where it's like instead of putting money on our debit card, actually give them cash and let them play with it and feel it and experience life the way that we kind of did, but instead of just always the debit card that makes it not real. We know it's real as an adult, but they don't.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

Well, right. But they we have a different base knowledge of money because we did have, you know, actual paper and actual coin. You said another gap that you're seeing is vocabulary. Tell me about that.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

There is a huge gap in vocabulary. And the older they get, especially our ACT and SAT students, they just don't hear these words. So we get stuck in ruts where we just say the same things all the time. And so one of the very fun things that I used to do with my kids is just as we're driving. You just have a word of the day. And how many times can you put it in a sentence? You know, it's the quirkiest words, right? And just however you can make them fun and incentivize it and things like this. But again, it's making it real. There are so many things that I'm astonished when I see students and just real-world questions, and they have no point of reference. None. We were doing analogies with I think it was high school students, and they were given three words and they had to find the third one. Well, it was like Mozart and Chopin and Beethoven, and they had no idea who that was. They had absolutely no idea. So it was like, well, those are actually, you know, composers of classical music, and you know, so those are the opportunities to just expand their world. There was another group of students, and it was breeds of cats, you know, calico and orange and something else was in there. They had no idea.

SPEAKER_02 21:49

So a parent who is busy and frazzled and working, they're maybe they're overemployed. Have you ever heard that term, right? Yeah, they're working like multiple. Jobs plus a gig and then you know and and parenting, you've got four. That's a job, and then your household and everything. How are this sounds like extra work, but I've I have a feeling that you have some clever ideas to maximize the time already there.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

Well, if you think about it and you said it just needs to be one a day, right? Just pick one. When you're brushing your teeth in the morning, pick one. Learn with your kids. I often say it can be fun. So just while you're brushing your teeth, what's our word for the day going to be? If you do that, that's 365 days of learning, you know, 365 words in a year. It doesn't have to be overwhelming.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

And I like that you earlier you said YouTube because kids love YouTube. And I wonder if there's even an opportunity there for vocabulary building or can concept sharing, maybe through a podcast, you know, like there's gotta be some five or 10 minute podcast that, you know, half of the drive to wherever you take your kid, right? Because that's another part of parenting, is I guess you're a taxi driver. Very much so. You listen to the podcast for 10 minutes, maybe NPR or something like, you know, higher level, depending on what's appropriate. And then you unpack it. And what words did you not know? Oh, I didn't know this word. And you know, I could see I'm starting to see where the fun can come into play. I wanted to ask you though about the motivation, because we're excited here talking about this stuff. But how do you keep a kid motivated in subjects that they are a little less interested in?

SPEAKER_00 23:38

So, like I said, learning is natural. It really is natural. And so, yes, there's always subjects that we're more interested in than others. And so, even as adults, we know this. And you said it earlier. School is, I say this so many times. School is the only place that we are expected to be good at everything. Once we get out, we find our specialties and it doesn't matter anymore. But school is the only place that we're expected to be good in math, English, science, social studies, history, civics, right? All of it. Because I am not a scientist at all. But I love math and I love English. And so, you know, it's that only place. So I always say, empower the strengths, but support the weaknesses. So my kids, I have four, like I said, they're all different. I have one that's an artist. She is that was her superpower. An artist from the time she was old enough to hold a pencil, she was off the charts, gifted. I have another daughter, and hers is math. They couldn't be more different. And so she would take a placemat in a restaurant and do math problems. You know, really? Yes. I had one that was drawing and I had one that was doing math problems on my back up. And I'm saying I couldn't be more different, but you know, it was just them and their love of learning. I've never woken up and met a kid that said, I want to fail today. That's what I want to do. That is my goal. I want to fail. I've never met that kid to set them up for success and say, How can I help you to be successful today? That is fun. Right? That is where you can say, You got this kiddo. Right. And so in whatever way I can do to help support you in that. And so, like I say, they want to be successful. So, what typically happens though is when we see the kids starting to resist, it's because they don't understand and they're frustrated. And we can understand this because if there's something I run into, technology freaks me out. It totally does. I can feel my heart race. I am not a technology guru at all. I just start freaking out over technology. I don't know how it works. Don't tell me what to plug it in. I don't know, right? And so that's my thing that I run into that I naturally resist. And nothing drives me crazier than to run into someone who says, but it's easy. But it's not easy to me. And so when we're dealing with our kids and we say, but it's easy. Let me, you know, show you this math problem, but it's not easy to them. Not at that moment. So don't encourage or like feed that self-doubt, right? But it's not easy for me because a kid won't say that, right? They'll just shut down or they'll get defensive. And instead, it's let me as a teacher figure out a way to make this fun and engaging so that you can do this.

SPEAKER_02 27:09

I love that. Yeah. That kind of goes back to what you were saying earlier about fresh eyes almost on every day and not layering your own perspective, your own skills and deficits onto your child, which must be so hard as a parent. How do you know when it's time to get outside help for your kiddo?

SPEAKER_00 27:28

So, and here's my thing I never ever judge my parents, ever. And I know, and I don't judge my teachers either. Like we are all doing the best we can. And so I actually worked at a Sylvan Learning Center, one of my very first jobs at a college. I've been doing this a long time, but my little one, I realized it was, you know, there was something she didn't understand. And she really needed help. She just wasn't getting it, and she was falling behind. And the dynamic between parents and kids, we were just banging heads. And I'm like, I can work with every other kid in the world. Why can't I work with you? And so I actually hired a tutor to work with my daughter. And so, you know, that's why I say it's just a different relationship. It really is. And our kids act differently for different people. And so we just have to realize that there's a time and a place for everything, right? But if we do determine, like this is not a, I don't have a kid that doesn't really want to, because I don't ever say we have lazy kids. That's like a, I don't know, a trigger for me, if you will, that we have lazy kids. We really don't. They're just frustrated. They're just shut down. We just need to light them back up again. And so if you're seeing that, that's usually the time. That's usually the time to say, okay, if I can't figure this out, then how can I get some help?

SPEAKER_02 28:56

And so if someone were to engage Sylvan Learning Center for that help, I know that, you know, not every family has the funds for that, but you told me that there's scholarships, which I never knew this about Sylvan Learning Center. And I went to Sylvan Learning Center as a kid, which my grandparents paid for that generously, so that I could get the help that I need. So tell me about the scholarships plural. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

So this is the wonderful part about living in Florida, okay, is these are Florida-based scholarships. Okay. So, and there's multiple ones. You can learn all about them at stepupforstudents.org. And like I said, it's a state-funded program. I think, you know, the lottery money, right? That's where we always wonder where does it go? So one of those programs is stepupforstudents.org, and they have several different ones. And so I hear a lot of times they'll say, Well, I won't qualify because, you know, my family makes too much money. That's not true. These actually are not based on income, they are based on the needs of the child. And so the one that every family can apply for, it's called the New World Scholarship. It is for public school students that are struggling with reading and math. And so you would just go to that website, you can apply for it, and it's $1,200. So that one is called the New World Scholarship. They have others that if your school, your student goes to a private school, there's one called Family Empowerment. There's another one called unique abilities. So if your student does have a specific diagnosis.

SPEAKER_02 30:36

So if they had an IEP, would that be part of the qualification process for that particular scholarship?

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Maybe. That's why I say you'd have to know what that IEP is around. Okay. And go and look on the website. And I will say their staff that they have there, you can talk to them. Like you can call them. They are awesome to work with. We do all the time. We'll just pick up the phone and call and say, hey, which one does this apply for this family? Or can you explain this to? And you'll get a real person and they'll actually talk you through it and what you can be eligible for.

SPEAKER_02 31:13

Wow. Now, are there specific windows of time that a parent needs to do this, or is this kind of like open all year long? Because you know, sometimes you don't realize, oh, my child needs help until you learn it. Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

Right. Well, we just finished well, we're getting ready to do all the testing was we're recording this in May, but they some of them are open and closed at different times. So you just really need to go to the website and find out. I know that the New World Scholarship is one that they open up after the testing in May, typically. And we get those test results back and we know what those scores are for those students and because they'll ask for that. So you can qualify.

SPEAKER_02 31:57

That's perfect. I'm so grateful that you came and talked about the learning styles and the guilt relief. I feel like every parent listening is like, yeah. Oh, like like they just let out a big sigh, you know, listening to you because it's so refreshing to know that you don't have to know all the answers because the answers change every day. They do.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

And all we can do is laugh about it and do our best. That's exactly right. If only they came with manuals.

SPEAKER_02 32:26

Exactly. Well, thank you, Gloria. I will link everything, including both locations to your Sylvan Learning Centers and the scholarship source. And I just appreciate you. Thank you so much. Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Scambia County Public Schools.