Learning about LDs (learning differences)

When the style used to teach a child is not compatible with the way the child learns best, the child is considered to be learning disabled. However, if the child is taught with a style that he or she learns best with, and especially with multisensory lessons, he or she has little trouble learning. You may have heard of the visual learner or tactile learner. These are different learning styles. A visual learner retains more information if it is presented visually, with photos or video for example. The tactile (or kinesthetic) learner prefers hands-on education such as physically planting a seed or building a popsicle stick bridge. There are also auditory learners who learn best by listening to lessons. If you were to try to have each of these types of learners read information out of a book, they would not succeed in retaining much of the information. The disability here is not in the learning but in the teaching.*

*Children with brain injuries or trauma are at a disadvantage to learn, but are not the focus of my discussion here.

The best way to teach a child with learning differences is by using multi-sensory lessons. Yes, a child who is a visual learner will learn best when visuals are used; however, studies have shown that using multiple senses will help a child retain even more than if taught solely with his or her favored learning style.

Multi-sensory lessons are not hard to create:

• When studying literature, reading passages aloud; drawing the setting and lead characters; or acting out parts of the story are all ways to make the lesson come to life in a child's mind, ears and eyes.


• Using maps in history lessons or building models in math are other multi-sensory methods that can be used to enhance lessons.


• Sometimes a little creativity is in order: Cooking multi-cultural meals in social studies lessons or bandaging a baby doll in parenting lessons will solidify the learning experience.


• Science experiments are terrific educational activities for teaching a variety of topics from gravity to botany. Every science topic could have an experiment, even if it is short and sweet.


• Watching videos or creating projects like posters or lapbooks that correspond with the topic help enhance the lesson as well.

With a little bit of thinking and creativity, any lesson can be made multisensory. Making lessons more fun this way will benefit all students, whether they have learning differences or not.

Many parents are afraid to homeschool children with learning differences because they think they don't have the correct education, skills or talents like the "professionals" do.

Well, let me put that urban legend to rest by stating that most K-12 teachers don't have the training, skills or talent to teach children with learning differences either. Getting a degree to teach does not involve learning about children with learning differences. Usually they learn the subject they want to teach and how to teach to mainstream children. They do not know how to teach children who do not learn the same way many other children do. It disrupts their flow of work and it frustrates them because they have state and federal-mandated deadlines and goals they must reach in order to keep their jobs.

Some teachers may try to go out of their way to help; they may try to find a way to adjust their teaching style so that all children in the classroom will learn. But most public school teachers are up against a lot of red tape and pressure due to the No Child Left Behind Act that they simply can't stop to help one or two students when the majority of the class has to pass some test by a certain date. Children DO get left behind because of this law due to the loophole that allows special education children to not be counted.

This is why homeschooling is a GREAT idea for children with learning differences. There are a lot of resources out there to help parents teach their children.

For teaching my dyslexic son reading, I use Reading Horizons at Home. For teaching science, history and other subjects I find videos off of YouTube or use National Geographic Kids or History Channel videos. For literature I download audiobooks from iTunes or use learnoutloud.com. I also use iTunes podcasts which are free and there is a lot of selection for helping with educating kids.