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Tips for Learning Styles

Interest-Led Learning Made Easy: 12 Free Topics to Keep You Inspired All Year

March 24, 2025 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Whether you’re following an interest led learning model, unschooling or child-led, you’ll love this newest free printable I have today. Also, look at my page Homeschool Learning Styles to learn more about learning styles.

Through the years the terms interest-led learning, child-led learning and unschooling hasn’t really changed. It’s that the homeschool education world has finally caught on.

In my mom’s time the only way for a child to learn was through traditional curriculum. Or rather that was the view touted then.

Interest-Led Learning Made Easy: Free 12 Topics to Keep You Inspired All Year

Interest-led learning is a homeschool approach which prioritizes a learner’s personal interests and passions ahead of any curriculum.

Some families use curriculum, others not so much. But all families use resources which interest their families.

For example, they can utilize online learning, living books, life experiences, YouTube, classes, and dictionaries.

Also, they may use reference books, games, history enactments, science labs, interview professionals, or ordinary people who are knowledgeable, have much experience along with a passion for a topic.

As you can see there are many ways for a family to pursue topics that they want to know about instead of what is laid out in a curriculum.

So, I have created a free printable to give you a year’s worth of topics that your passion filled child may want to learn about.

RESOURCES FOR INTEREST-LED, UNSCHOOLING OR CHILD-LED LEARNING

But first, I have rounded up some resources on various topics which may interest your child.

16 Interest-Led, Child-Led & Unschooling resources

Because you can use a variety of books on topics that interests your child, I've included some subjects you child may find delightful.

The Water Cycle!: With 25 Science Projects for Kids

Drip―Drop―Splash! Water is essential to all forms of life. So let’s learn all about it! The Water Cycle! With 25 Science Projects for Kids captures kids’ imaginations with a deep look at the world of water. Combining hands-on activities with history and science, The Water Cycle! invites kids to have fun learning about the water cycle, water resources, drinking water and sanitation, water pollution and conservation, water use, water folklore and festivals, and the latest in water technology.

Skulls and Skeletons!: With 25 Science Projects for Kids

What would happen if you had no bones? You might fall over flat on the floor!

Bones are those hard parts of our bodies that make up our skeletons and skulls, and we need them in lots of different ways. In Skulls and Skeletons! With 25 Science Projects for Kids, readers learn about the bones in their bodies and why we can’t live without them. And bones aren’t just good for humans―many animals can’t live without them! But do all animals have bones? No, they don’t! And why do fish look so much different from birds, even though both have bones? Organisms use their bodies in different ways to successfully live in different habitats. For example, a bird’s light bones are great for flying, but would not support them deep in the ocean.

Weather and Climate!: With 25 Science Projects for Kids

What’s it like outside? Is it a day for building a snowman, constructing a sandcastle, or planting a garden? Weather and Climate! With 25 Science Projects for Kids introduces kids ages 7 to 10 to the fascinating world of meteorology and all of the ways what’s going on in the atmosphere above our heads can affect us here on the earth! Plus, discover how weather and climate change are linked but not the same, and figure out ways to be part of the solution to the problem of global warming.

The activity in our atmosphere plays a critical role in our lives and in the health of our planet. Today’s weather determines what clothes you wear and what you are going to do after school, while the local climate influences what kind of car your parents drive, what kind of house you live in, and―believe it or not―what foods you eat!

Rivers and Streams!: With 25 Science Projects for Kids

Did you know that without rivers, human life might not have developed as it did? We might be a very difference species if it wasn’t for rivers, as would the other plants and animals who depends on rivers and streams for food, transportation, water, and power!

In Rivers and Streams! With 25 Science Projects for Kids, readers ages 7 to 10 dive in and discover how rivers change the shape of the land while plants, animals, and humans change the shape of
rivers. Through fun facts, engaging content, and essential questions, kids learn about the vital role that rivers and streams have played in human history and explore the ways rivers and streams might affect our future. Science experiments that promote critical thinking and creative problem solving encourage kids to make their own discoveries about the waterways they might pass every day.

Kitchen Chemistry: Cool Crystals, Rockin’ Reactions, and Magical Mixtures with Hands-On Science Activities

Bring chemistry to your kitchen with a book that offers hands-on science activities that can be done with ingredients from your pantry and the refrigerator!

What’s going on when you cook in the kitchen? Science!

In Kitchen Chemistry: Cool Crystals, Rockin’ Reactions, and Magical Mixtures with Hands-On Science Activities, readers ages 9 to 12 discover that the cooking, mixing, and measuring you do in the kitchen all has its roots deep in science―chemistry to be exact!

Explore Rivers and Ponds!: With 25 Great Projects

Explore Rivers and Ponds! with 25 Great Projects, introduces kids to the fascinating world of freshwater habitats and the creatures they contain. Combining hands-on activities with ecology and
science, kids will have fun learning about the freshwater biome, including lakes and ponds, streams and rivers, and wetlands. Entertaining illustrations and fascinating sidebars illuminate the topic and bring it to life, while Words to Know highlighted and defined within the text reinforce new vocabulary. Projects include assembling an ecologist’s field kit, creating a fishless aquarium, pouring casts of animal tracks, and building a watershed replica. Additional materials include a glossary, and a list of current reference works, websites, museums, and science centers.

Robotics!: With 25 Science Projects for Kids

Where was the last time you saw a robot? Did you read about one in a book or see one in a movie? Maybe you saw one in a video game!

Some people think robots exist only in our imagination, but actually, robots are all around us right now. Robotics! With 25 Science Projects for Kids offers readers ages 7 to 10 an introduction to the history, mechanics, and future use of robots! Readers explore the history of robotics and discover how the first types looked and moved and what people expected they could do. Compare these early robots to those we have today, some of which don’t even have bodies! Kids discover how robots have changed as decades have passed and see how they now look, think, sense, move, and do things.

Gutsy Girls Go For Science: Astronauts: With Stem Projects for Kids

Hands-on space science projects help launch kids ages 8 to 11 into learning about fearless female astronauts who broke barriers across space and gender in this full-color book full of real-world connections!

Do you dream of going into space? Do you wonder what it’s like on the moon? In Gutsy Girls Go for Science: Astronauts with STEM Projects for Kids, readers ages 8 through 11 explore the lives of some of the world’s most amazing female astronauts, including Bonnie Dunbar, Sally Ride, Mae Jemison, Sunita Williams, and Serena Auñón-Chancellor―all pioneers in the field of space exploration. Their hard work and dedication to science and experimentation gave the world much new knowledge about space, biology, and more. These brave women took risks and pushed the limits of what we know about life in space.

Energy: 25 Projects Investigate Why We Need Power & How We Get It

Energy is a vital part of our lives. It powers our computer, lights our home, and moves our car. It also costs a lot of money and pollutes our environment. In Energy: 25 Projects Investigate Why We Need Power and How We Get It, kids ages 9–12 learn about the history and science of the world’s energy sources, from nonrenewable fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas to renewable sources such as solar and wind power.

Zoology: Inside the Secret World of Animals (DK Secret World Encyclopedias)

This visual reference book starts with the question "what is an animal?" and takes you through the animal kingdom - mammals, reptiles, birds, and sea creatures. It uses a unique head-to-toe approach that showcases in spectacular detail special features like the flight feathers of a parrot, the antenna of a moth, or the tentacles of coral.This visual encyclopedia is filled with clear and fascinating information on everything about the social lives of animals. Read exciting stories like how animals communicate, defend their territories, and attract mates.

The Animal Book: A Visual Encyclopedia of Life on Earth (DK Our World in Pictures)

This inspiring children’s reference guide welcomes you to the animal kingdom where you can meet more than 1,500 species, ranging from ants to zebras and everything in between. Stunning pictures bring you face to face with giant predators you know and love, including polar bears and tigers, as well as mysterious microscopic life, including amoebas and bacteria.

Space A Visual Encyclopedia (DK Children's Visual Encyclopedias)

From the Moon, Sun, and planets of our Solar System to space exploration, black holes, and dark matter, this completely revised and updated children’s encyclopedia covers all you need to know about the cosmos. The most up-to-date images from space agencies such as NASA and ESA combine with info panels, timelines, interviews, diagrams, and activities you can do at home to help you understand the majesty and wonder of space. 

Backyard Biology: Investigate Habitats Outside Your Door with 25 Projects

BIOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF LIFE. Life is everywhere, thriving in the city and in the country, teeming in ecosystems around the planet—in deserts, oceans, and even the Arctic. And life is right outside your door! Backyard Biology invites children ages 9 and up to investigate living things —especially in yards, parks, nature areas, and playgrounds. Trivia and fun facts bring animals, plants, and microorganisms to life, in all their wonder.

Inventions: A Visual Encyclopedia (DK Children's Visual Encyclopedias)

This stunning visual guide explores and explains the greatest inventions, ideas, and discoveries throughout the ages, and introduces their inventors. From fire, stone tools, and the wheel to ploughs and paper, discover the first inventions that shaped societies and grew mighty civilizations and empires such as those in ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and ancient China.

The Arts: A Visual Encyclopedia (DK Children's Visual Encyclopedias)

From the first strokes of paint on prehistoric caves to contemporary street art in the 21st century, every artistic style and movement is explored and explained in stunning detail. Special features celebrate the lives of groundbreaking painters, sculptors, and photographers, from Dutch master Johannes Vermeer to photography pioneer Julia Margaret Cameron. Many best-loved pieces of art are showcased in iconic images. Marvel at Leonardo da Vinci's mysterious Mona Lisa, the most famous painted lady. March alongside China’s statues of the Terracotta Army, and gaze in awe at Barbara Hepworth's stunning Pelagos sculpture.

Ocean: A Visual Encyclopedia (DK Children's Visual Encyclopedias)

From the shimmering surface to the darkest depths, this breathtaking visual encyclopedia presents our blue planet as never before. Stunning photography, accessible information, and fascinating facts are spilling over in this essential guide to the oceans. Take a dip in all the world’s waters to experience their incredible diversity. Make a splash in the icy Arctic waters before warming up in the tropical Indian Ocean. Experience the super size of mighty whales compared to swarms of tiny krill. Cast your eyes to the skies to see circling sea birds before diving down to meet mysterious creatures of the deep. 

Next, look at some hands-on activities which are a huge part of learning.

These activities will pair with the topics I’ve included in the free interest led printable of 12 topics.

HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES FOR INTEREST-LED LEARNING

  • How to Make a Cool Greek Mythology Triorama With Kids
  • Greek Mythology Unit Study and Greece Lapbook & Fun Hands on LEGO Zeus.
  • How to Create a Minecraft-Like Paul Bunyan Craft With Graph Paper
  • 8 Earth Day Facts | How to Make a Recycled Robot
  • Free Weather Unit Study for Kids Who Love Hands-on Learning
  • Fun Facts About Mold Fossils & 4 Types of Fossil Activities For Kids
  • Exploring Space and Astronomy Free Unit Study
  • Exciting Books About the Great Barrier Reef| Faux Coral Craft
  • Free Homeschool Volcano Unit Study
  • Ancient Civilizations Unit Study

Finally, look at how to grab this freebie.

Interest-Led Learning Made Easy: Free 12 Topics to Keep You Inspired All Year

HOW TO GET THE FREE YEAR OF CHILD-LEARNING PRINTABLE 12 TOPICS

Now, how to grab the freebie. It’s a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get my emails in your inbox and you get this freebie.

1) CLICK HERE ON THIS LINK TO SIGN UP ON MY EMAIL LIST & TO GET THIS FREEBIE.

2) Grab the freebie instantly.

3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Tips for Learning Styles Tagged With: child led, freeprintables, interest led, learning styles, unschooling

A Homeschooler’s Quick and Painless Introduction To Learning Styles

April 21, 2023 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have a quick introduction to learning styles. And grab my other tips I have on my page homeschool learning styles.

Also, it’s not necessary to be concerned about educationalese so learning about homeschool learning styles should be painless.

It’s not necessary to understand all the jargon of learning styles like I tried to do.

A Homeschooler’s Quick and Painless Introduction To Learning Styles

Too, I want you to know why it’s important to understand this brief introduction to homeschool learning styles prior to choosing curriculum.

Additionally, I want you to understand these 3 things.

  • you need to understand your child’s weaknesses and strengths.
  • that you should tailor curriculum to meet your child’s learning personality and
  • the more you educate yourself and your child the better you’re equipped to meet his needs.

Introduction to Learning Styles

First, it’s important to success as homeschool educators to understand our children and ourselves.

For example, as parents we know from the time our children are born, they have a definite personality.

In addition, we have pre-set ideas of how to raise them.

However, their personality and our ideas of how to homeschool can collide.

So, you need to understand your child’s weakness and strengths so you can best know how to homeschool him.

Better yet you want your child to excel in life as well.

What is a Learning Style

Although some scientific studies want to complicate the simple, here is my simple definition.

A learning style is the way a person prefers to learn. It goes beyond visual, kinesthetic, and auditory. It involves the way a person feels, senses, and thinks about certain topics. Also, it is a preferred way to interact with new information and it involves their personality. And to accept the differences in people and understand there is no reason to change a person because differences are a good thing.

The reason so many educators can be overwhelmed is that they try to make it science to understand how the brain works.

While it’s true that studying the brain is vital and it is science, it’s equally important to know that we will never know all that affects our brain, emotions, and personality.

Key to moving forward in teaching children is accepting their personality and understanding that they we should not try to change them.

We only see what children can do and how they interact and will never be able to know everything about the brain.

True, we want to nurture them and pass on what we know.

However, that is much different than changing something about somebody that we have no control over. If a child is born with black hair, then it’s black.

As absurd as it is, we don’t insist we have a child who is blonde headed even if he or she dyed their hair.

We’re born with certain traits which can’t be changed no matter how much we may hide them.

Why should we tailor our curriculum to meet our child’s needs?

Next, another point to know is that tailor curriculum to a child’s learning style is not coddling them.

Just as you have a preferred teaching style your child has a preferred way to learn.

Each of your children began to walk and talk at different times, not the exact same day.

So, when our curriculum is varied it means we accept and recognize differences.

And you recognize that just because one math program works for one child it doesn’t mean it will for the next child.

Again, this is because there are differences in our learning personality that need to be recognized.

When a child loses self-confidence or thinks he is weird because he doesn’t comprehend our teaching method then the curriculum is counterproductive.

We simply cannot expect each of our children to be the same and this is because they each have different learning personalities.

Why Your Child’s Learning Personality is Important

Because teaching styles are only part of choosing curriculum easily, I’ve included a link to my online course Identifying Your Homeschooled Childs Learning Personality.

How to Determine the Best Learning Style Approach for Your Child? Determining the best learning style approach is much easier when you know about homeschool learning styles. A learning style is not something I thought about when I started homeschooling or even when my kids were struggling. However, had I taken time to learn what is the best learning style for each of my children, I would have saved myself unnecessary stress.

YOU WILL LEARN:

  • How to understand the way your child prefers to learn so that you can teach him in a way that he enjoys learning;
  • How to pinpoint your child’s learning personality;
  • A starting point in understanding (barring any special learning challenges or disabilities) and accepting your child’s preferred way of taking in information;
  • Understanding when the learning personality emerges; and
  • Teaching tips for each learning personality to stop the head-butting.

Moreover, look at the resources to help you understanding learning styles.

Homeschool Learning Style and Personality Book Helps and How to of Homeschooling

Arming yourself with more information as to how children learn and how to teach them best should be part of every homeschool library.

Our goal in homeschooling is to be the best teacher and learn how OUR kids learn best and not every child or grade level.

31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers: When You Don't Know Where to Begin

Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers is a real eye-opener on homeschooling. It will alleviate a lot of the anxieties about getting started homeschooling. Reading each chapter’s highlights will give you encouragement, knowledge, guidance, and peace of mind to homeschool with confidence. The best part is that you’ll be educating the person who loves your kids the most in this world--YOU! 

How to Get Your Child Off the Refrigerator and On to Learning

Carol Barnier knew that her son -- more likely to be sitting on the table (or the refrigerator) than in his chair -- was worthy of high expectations. She also knew that he could easily miss achieving them if she didn't find the right key to unlock his capacity to learn. Carol found volumes of information on how to recognize the challenges in ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) children, how to manage them, how to discipline them, and how to accept them. But no one told her how to teach her son math tomorrow. In her search for solutions, she developed techniques that are not only fun for all children, but highly successful with any child who struggles with focus.

The Big What Now Book of Learning Styles: A Fresh and Demystifying Approach

All children want to learn, but so often we give students a key to unlock their understanding of a new concept only to discover that it was the wrong key. The question then becomes, WHAT NOW? Carol Barnier delivers a fresh and demystifying approach to learning styles. You'll find answers and so much more. You, the newly energized "Keeper of the Keys," will now have access to the following ideas that will help you find the right key to unlock a love of learning in your K-12th grade child:

More Homeschool Learning Style Resources

  • A Easy Introduction for Homeschool Parents to the List Of Learning Styles
  • 8 Best Classical Style History Curriculum for a Classical Learning Style
  • What Are The 5 Learning Styles to Know to Form a Powerful Homeschool Foundation
  • How to Easily Match the Homeschool Classical Approach With Learning Style
  • How to Fuse Personality and Learning Styles to Choose the BEST Homeschool Curriculum
  • Mega List of Workbook Style Homeschool Curriculum For K to 12 Kids
  • 3 Veteran’s Superb Tips to Understand Homeschool Learning Style Differences
  • 6 Easy Ways to Identify the Charlotte Mason Homeschool Style
  • How to Determine the Best Learning Style Approach for Your Child?
  • What Are the Homeschool Top Main 5 Learning Styles
  • Practical Tips for Learning Styles 
  • Discovering Learning Styles
  • How Understanding Homeschool Teaching Styles Makes You Successful
  • 35+ Best Homeschool Curriculum By Learning Style (free printable)
  • How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Childs Differences
  • What Are the Top 5 Homeschool Styles
A Homeschooler’s Quick and Painless Introduction To Learning Styles

Your children are so much more capable of learning than we sometimes give them credit for. Understanding their learning personality unlocks the power of learning.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Determine Learning Styles, Tips for Learning Styles Tagged With: learning, learning styles, learningstyles

Day 16 Practical Tips for Learning Styles and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp 

September 26, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Day 16 practical tips for learning styles is our next topic for the 31 Day Free Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers. 

What you come to appreciate more about homeschooling is that being a first-rate teacher is not as easy as it may seem and it requires work. 

You’ll want tips for learning styles so you’re armed for the personality of your different children.

In the beginning, new homeschoolers spend more time choosing curriculum than they do improving their ability to teach.

Day 16 Practical Tips for Learning Styles and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp

Remembering that you are teaching a child and not a curriculum should motivate you to want to understand more about the learning process.

Learning tips and tricks of the trade takes time, but you should begin reading about learning how to teach  rather than focusing exclusively on choosing curriculum.

Day 16: Practical Tips for Learning Styles.{31 Day Boot Camp For New Homeschoolers on My Blog}

{My curriculum sale last year.}

Too, applying knowledge of what you know now about learning styles will help you to tame the curriculum colossus.

Instead of focusing on learning about ALL curriculum this year, you can focus on just what your children need.

There will be plenty of time to come up for air and survey other options as you plod along.

Tips for Learning Styles

Along with my next post Day 17: How To Choose Curriculum Other than the “Looks Good” Method, I want to put in a nutshell what I have learned in my 20+ years or so of homeschooling and in my 10 years of advising other new homeschoolers. Easy?

Absolutely not because each family has different circumstances, but you need a starting point that works.

Between aligning curriculum that fits your child’s learning style and arming yourself with the strengths and weakness of each curriculum, your first year will be less daunting.

Look at some tips below.

Determine what your children like and don’t like and then you can see ways to teach that fits their learning style.

For example, if you have a child that learns best by hands-on, should you waste your time looking JUST at workbooks?

Workbooks have their place, but you are not trying to follow pubic school thinking where some feel that finishing a workbook equals learning.

It does not. I finished many work books when I was in elementary public school, but it did not always equal to mastery of the concept because I was lousy in math though I was a good student.

Who is Tina Robertson

But before you can appreciate how I can help you here are are a few things about me. Sure, this free new homeschooler boot camp is all about you.

However, you need to know that I’m not new to the homeschool world.  

It has been several years since I wrote this series and I want to update you on my successes. And I’ve helped HUNDREDS get on the road to homeschooling.

Too, I have 3 homeschooled grads. So I’m well past having my oldest kid being 10 years old.

Day 16 Practical Tips for Learning Styles and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp 

But the best part is that what I have for you works.

Also, look at a few other things about me.

  • I am the author of the book Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers: When You Don’t Know Where to Begin
  • And I have a detailed self-paced online homeschool Kickstarter course. It is a detailed comprehensive course for first time homeschoolers.
Day 16 Practical Tips for Learning Styles and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp 

That is enough about me.

This new homeschoolers free boot camp is about you. I’ve not only been helping new homeschoolers in person, but here at my site for years.

Also, I have created an easy course where you don’t have to wait to learn about learning styles.

Day 16 Practical Tips for Learning Styles and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp 

Here is another example if you have a child that is a Competent Carl.

If he already excels at math, does he really need a lot of your help? Will purchasing a drill and kill workbook and your over explanations make him enjoy the first years of homeschooling?

On the other hand, if you are busy helping other children and you know that your Sociable Sue prefers one on one time with you, have you allowed time in your schedule to give her or him your undivided attention?

Refer back to these tips on what each personality likes and dislikes.

Ask yourself: “Am I the kind of teacher that “I” would want to learn from?”. If not, make improvements. It is a hard pill to swallow to make honest assessments, but homeschooling is for the brave and the humble.

Preparation is key to making sure your children enjoy you as a teacher.

Do you see some teaching tips you can implement now?

New to Homeschooling Start with the Basics

1 – 7 of the 31 day Free Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers

  • 1 Learn The Lingo (& free glossary)
  • 2: Homeschool Roots Matter
  • 3 What is NOT Homeschooling
  • 4: Confronting Relatives & Naysayers
  • 5: The Wheels on the Bus Go ‘Round & ‘Round
  • 6: Homeschool Hangouts & Socialization Situations
  • 7: Tied Up with Homeschool Testing?

8-14 of the 31 day Free Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers

  • 8: Organize Your Home – Then School
  • 9: Carpe Diem: Homeschool Schedule by The Day, Month, & Year
  • 10 Grocery Shopping Cooking Laundry
  • 11: Swoonworthy Learning Spaces & Homeschool Rooms
  • 12: Creative Storage Solutions for Homeschool
  • 13. Streamlined Record Keeping
  • 14 Homeschool Supplies List

15 – of the 31 Day Free Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers

  • 15: Discovering Learning Styles
Day 16 Practical Tips for Learning Styles and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp 

Day 16 Practical Tips for Learning Styles and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp 
Day 16: Practical Tips for Learning Styles.{31 Day Boot Camp For New Homeschoolers on My Blog}

Leave a CommentFiled Under: 31 Day Blog Bootcamp for New Homeschoolers, Determine Learning Styles, How To - - -, Tips for Learning Styles Tagged With: new homeschooler, newbeehomeschooler, newhomeschoolyear

Teach Your Homeschooled Teen the Art of Studying (without nagging)

December 24, 2016 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

How to Teach Your Homeschooled Teen the Art of Studying (without nagging) @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Teaching your homeschooled teen the art of studying is a bit like not having a parent’s manual that comes with your kids when they enter the world. Well – almost.

Resources exist overwhelmingly for teaching teens study skills in public schools, but teaching our kids at home can give us a slight edge.

However, it only becomes an advantage if we tap into teaching them how to study along the way. Teaching a teen study skills can be frustrating if you don’t begin when they are young.

How to Spoon-Feed a Homeschooled Teen

Learning should be active and not passive. Spoon-feeding and hovering over our teens won’t propel them to learn the art of studying.

Look at 3 things I learned when teaching a teen to study.

One/ Self-instruction is a must.

Many kids do not do well in public school because they feel trapped with confinements on what they should learn. Avoiding the popular notion that teens need a lot of supervision gives teens a chance to experience independence.

Raising independent and self-taught learners means bucking the current system period.

I learned as I have homeschooled longer to give up the control while supervising them. It begins with self-instruction in what your child is interested in.

Starting out, this doesn’t mean a child guides himself completely because not all children are inclined to even attempt learning the boring things.

Many days teaching my three teens has been more difficult and mentally taxing then when they were toddlers because you have to talk with them not at them as they learn self-governing independence.

And yes there should be sanctions when a teen is not self-studying and is wasting time. But there is a reason a teen is wasting time and it’s called unmotivated.

Two/ Motivation is a GREAT incentive.

Motivation for studying what interests a teen comes first, then self-instruction, not the other way around.

In other words, you can’t expect a teen to be self-taught and independent without him having a compelling reason to be. You can’t just heap subjects onto him, like when he was in elementary grades and then expect him to do them. That was your job then, but it’s not when he is a teen.

Micromanaging in the teen years breeds rebellion and you may end up having an adult child that won’t speak to you. Don’t let that happen.

And don’t make the mistake of swinging to the other end of the pendulum and give him total self-governing.

Teen Study Skills

Don’t stress over it, but look at these sanity-saving tips to gradually dole out independence, which then teaches your teen the art of studying.

  • Choose a topic in a subject. As soon as your child demonstrates a bit of independence, recognize it by allowing him to choose a topic in a subject that you require. Don’t ask him to cover science, but require it. But give him the choice, for example, of studying about rocks, magnets or a bird. For us this happened close to second grade for one child, close to sixth grade for another and closer to middle school for another son.
  • Then, choose subjects. After you have exposed your child to well-rounded out subjects, then give him the choices of which subjects to cover. This normally happens around middle and high school.
  • Give him checklists, organize drawers and student planners to gauge progress. Give him a checklist or some way of knowing what he is doing for the day and when he is finished. The art of how to study can be diminished when your expectations are not clear. Not only are you giving your child clear expectations, but you are doing something VERY important lasting him on into adulthood, which is teaching him how to create expectations, goals and standards for himself. How to study includes setting incremental goals and meeting them. He needs accountability to you first, then next to himself. Early on I set up drawers for each child and in the order I chose for him to cover the subject. That model morphed into choices they made later on as to which subjects they wanted to cover first. I also created student planners and my oldest son enjoyed that the most. My youngest son enjoys taking notes on his iPad. And another son likes picture doodling and part words as he note takes. Each child is different.

organized-drawers-promotes-self-teaching-and-independence-tinas-dynamic-homeschool-plus

  • Listen. More importantly, teens want to be heard. Listen and back him up by letting him try his idea. The best place and time to fail from an idea he had is while he is living with you so he can learn.
  • Take him with you to choose curriculum. My boys made a trip with me to the convention fair each year. If they didn’t have a preference in curriculum, they got a chance to look it over anyway.
  • Teach him his learning style and then help him learn that way. Don’t push your way of learning. I know, I’m probably one of the caring pushiest moms ever, but not all of my boys learn the way I do. Use color coding markers, use a written planner, use an online planner, use an iPad, music in the background works for one son (not me), quiet space for another son, flashcards, index cards and writing in a book (yes allowed). Be willing to move from your comfort zone to the learning zone your child works best in.

Teach Consequences But Evaluate Consequence Too

Three/ Consequences is a must.

Learning how to learn means that your child needs consequences, both bad and good for his habits. Shielding our child or always telling them everything not matter how well-intended can turn to nagging.

When I was a teen, I did learn by example. Not all teens learn that way and some have to experience pain.

Teaching my boys that learning by example is more preferable than learning always by experience was important to me, but my boys have to be willing to accept that mindset.

Teaching teens is not always a two-way street, so be prepared for times when they have to suffer bad consequences.

A bad grade worked for one son, but it didn’t for another one.

Telling my son to think about what others will think about him and the example he set worked for another son. He didn’t want to hear my opinion, but teaching him to evaluate what he was going to do or not do when applying himself to how he studied made him think how he would appear to others.

I’ve found that clear consequences, even writing them down has been a useful guide in prodding my teens in the right direction.

After all, college, life and career are full of on the job rules, regulations and earning respect. Don’t forget to teach them at home.

This is the tip of the iceberg of things I’ve learned as two of my sons have now entered the adulthood.

And when your adult sons tell you often how much they deeply value what you taught them about how to study, you won’t be able to hold back tears.

When you take time to teach your teens how to study, you teach them for a lifetime.

Grab my Free Student Planner, 3 Unique Things a Homeschooled Teen Learns From a Teacher’s Manual and I found this book, The Art of Self-Directed Learning: 23 Tips For Giving Yourself an Unconventional Education very inspirational.

Hugs and love ya,

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1 CommentFiled Under: Be an Exceptional Homeschool Teacher, Begin Homeschooling, Build Character in Homeschooled Kids, Graduate a Homeschooler, Homeschool Boys, Homeschool Simply, Homeschool Teens _ From Teen to Graduation, Tips for Learning Styles Tagged With: homeschool, homeschool highschool, homeschool learning styles, homeschoolhighschool, learning, learningstyles, middleschool, study skills, teens

3 Biggest Problems with Homeschooling an Auditory Learner (And how to solve them)

October 29, 2016 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

3 Biggest Problems with Homeschooling an Auditory Learner (And how to solve them) @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

(Even when Tiny was little, he would have to set things to music to learn.)

Tiny was my first baby I had while homeschooling and I spent many days on the couch with morning sickness when I was pregnant with him. While resting on the couch, I used music to teach my older sons because they were preschoolers. I am convinced that hearing me read books to his brothers and playing music for them while he was in my womb made Tiny an auditory learner.

Homeschooling An Auditory Learner

It didn’t stop there. The Mr. loved carrying each son in his arms; he spent many days and nights with each son on his chest, humming to them directly in their ear. Like me, the Mr. loves all kinds of music, but you wouldn’t want either one of us to sing to you. But we have music at some time in our day.

Do you know to this day Tiny hums while he does his school and while he does other things?  I knew early on that I had a strong auditory learner and it’s not easy to school him when your other kids need quiet as they work.

On top of all that, I am a visual learner and need silence when I work. That wasn’t going to work as I taught Tiny.

Look at a few of the problems I’ve encountered and a tip or two to help you.

Problem One: They need to work with you one-to-one longer in a subject they struggle with. For us, it’s spelling.

The most important thing to remember is that your child advanced as fast as he did (or if he hasn’t) because your voice made all the difference. Your child’s strength is that he needs to listen to learn and if it’s been your voice, you need to be careful to not take that away so fast, like I did.

Don’t be quick to let him work independently on all things even if he is in middle or high school.

I learned this the hard way when I tried to let Tiny do his spelling independently too soon.

With auditory learners, pitch and pause modeled by you are everything whether it comes to spelling or reading.

Because I let Tiny do spelling independently at the same age I did my other two boys, he has struggled with it.

I have had to go back and work with him on it because he got use to the way I called out the spelling words when he was younger.

It made a difference in how he advanced in spelling. Unknowingly, my teaching method for spelling was spot on for his auditory need.

Here is one way I teach spelling to my sons. I call spelling words out by saying the name of the word first and give a definition of it. Pretty normal there.

But animated teacher that I am, then I hold my hand up in the air and bring it to the right side and say the first sound of the word, then I move my hand to the center and say the second sound and then to the left and say the last sound. Each sound is over exaggerated and very clear and distinct.

I taught all of my boys this way to show them how to break words down into sounds or their smallest part.

But this is exactly how an auditory learner learns and it lines up with his strength. When he hears me say the word broken down into sounds, his spelling is solid.

Problem Two: I call this a problem or a challenge at the very least, which is reading aloud.

The reason it’s a challenge is because if you have younger children, reading aloud with your auditory learner is not just about pleasure but they need your help to get the meaning from text.

Now, this is one thing I’ve done right.

I have never been a fan of reading aloud to my children only when they are little. The rewards change at they grow older because it’s now about discussing with boys the different view of the characters in the literature.

We still read aloud through to high school.

In addition, I haven’t realized until this year that I have been strengthening his reading ability further because he is an auditory learner. He is still learning from me as I read. I know this because as I change the pitch and power in my voice, he gets the point in the literature. This teaches him how he needs to read to himself.

My other two boys just got it when they read alone. The challenge here is that when you have younger kids and an older auditory learner they may not necessarily find delight in the same material.

I’ve learned that if you keep the younger kids interested, the auditory learner can learn from any book as long as he hears your voice.

In addition, audio books for the older learner fills that need they have because it can be exhausting to read each day with a lesson in mind. I try to focus on the enjoyment of reading aloud.

Problem Three: Along with being an auditory learner, there may be a need to wiggle, which can be a distraction.

This is also a challenge because it can make teaching them seem like a 3-ring circus, which I don’t have a problem with now, but may have been a problem in my earlier days of homeschooling.

For example, even in middle school, Tiny would throw a football while spelling a word out loud.

Also, Tiny turns grammar rules that he needs to memorize into musical jingles. If I’m not looking, he will add in a dance move.

He also has a need to recite things more to me than my other boys. He is constantly interrupting me with what he is learning or thinking.

Before I understood about his learning style, I thought he was just not putting effort into something. For example, he wouldn’t study his vocabulary very long or spelling before he brought the book to me to go over with them.

Instead of being lazy about it, it was quite the opposite. He was doing his school and applying his strength of learning out loud and with others.

He learns best by discussing things he learned with me and moving around. At first, it was very distracting for me, but having another son who learns by moving, I recognized the behavior.

When he exhausts me, he is more than willing to go into another room, shut the door and read out loud.

I’m still discovering new ways for Tiny to learn while listening, but to also teach him how to absorb information when others are not around to listen to.

Do you have an auditory learner? Have you recognized the signs? And what do you do?

Also, look at these articles: Homeschooling: Learning Styles – What’s the Difference anyway, Day 16: Practical Tips for Learning Styles and Day 15: Discovering Learning Styles.

Hugs and love ya,

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Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

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Leave a CommentFiled Under: Be an Exceptional Homeschool Teacher, Determine Learning Styles, Gauge Homeschool Progress, Homeschool Boys, Tips for Learning Styles Tagged With: auditory learners, boys

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