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"Why Johnny Can't Learn and His Mom has quit Homeschool"

© Joan Archer

Just as there are different styles of homeschools, there are also different styles of learning in homeschoolers. For example, before I knew my son Jasper was dyslexic, I had carefully organized our curriculum to be based nearly solely on text books. After a month or two of teaching, I was still unable to get Jasper to read or write anything beyond a couple of sentences. Math was an horrific undertaking for both of us, with Jasper unable to remember processes he had just learned in math the day before. The only things in his favor was his extensive storytelling abilities, and his love of doing scientific experiments. I totally doubted my ability to teach him, and secretly suspected he should just be taught to shine shoes while we got the sofa ready to be his life-long bed. In a word, I was DISCOURAGED with this child of mine, DISCOURAGED with the entire homeschool idea, and DISCOURAGED with our future prospects.

Not being the type of person who gives up without a fight, I did a lot of studying on my own. His Public School teacher had gotten a couple of things out of him, why couldn't I? My research pointed me directly at the idea that Jasper might possibly be dyslexic. I also did some reasearch into Learning Styles, and between the techniques outlined for the dyslexia and adapting our homeschool to Jasper's learning style, we began to and continue to find joy in our learning journey.

Although most people have a mixture of learning styles, they are ususally most comfortable with one style. The three basic learning styles are: Auditory, Kinesthetic and Visual. Auditory learners learn best by being told how to do something. Kinesthetic learners learn best through physical activity, learning by doing. Visual learners are the ones who have to be shown how to do something, either by example or by written instructions. Jasper is very much an auditory learner, learning best from being told how to do something, being read to, or by telling others what to do. To adjust our curriculum to his needs, I began reading the reading material aloud, writing his stories and papers while he dictated them to me, and by using a tape recorder to re-inforce lessons he had learned earlier. My son Isaac, on the other hand, is a very Visual learner, learning best by reading all the materials himself. He self-teaches most of the time, with guidance from me. Being read to tries his patience to no end, because he can't readily SEE the images in his mind.

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