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Learning Style Article
 Last Revised: January 1, 2009
A story is told of a management consultant firm who was asked to conduct a staff aptitude evaluation for Jesus of Nazareth. When the report came back about the 12 men picked for management positions in his new organization, it advised that four of the nominees lacked the proper background, education, and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise Jesus was about to undertake. The report added that they did not have the team concept.

In addition, it concluded that Simon Peter was emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew had absolutely no qualities for leadership. James and John placed personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrated a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale.

The firm felt that it was their duty to tell Jesus that Matthew had been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James and Thaddeus definitely had radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic depressive scale.

One of the candidates, however, showed great potential. He was a man of ability and resourcefulness, met people well, had a keen business mind, and had contacts in high places. He was highly motivated, ambitious, and innovative. The firm recommended that Judas Iscariot be made the controller and designated as Jesus’ right-hand man.

This story reminds us that it’s not how the world defines success, our children, or their learning abilities that matters. It’s how God designed our children that’s important. Proverbs 22:6 encourages us to: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The phrase, the way he should go, literally refers to bents in the original language. This implies that when we train our children according to the way God designed them, then our training will be much more effective.

Part of these “bents” is the different ways children learn. Learning happens in stages, and at each stage students process information in different ways – or styles. There are several popular resources that discuss learning style. Different terms are used and different resources look at different elements. It can be confusing.

To pull it all together, we’re going to use a sailing analogy. Each element of the analogy is based on biblical truth.

Psalm 139:13, 14 and Jeremiah 1:5 remind us that God placed a distinct calling in each of our children. That calling is their destiny or destination. He gave our children the design they would need to fulfill that calling.

That design may or may not include the abilities that are needed to succeed in a school classroom. About one quarter of students learn well in a group classroom setting. Another one quarter can get by. That leaves one-half of the students trying to learn in a way that doesn’t work for them. The advantage of homeschooling is that you can design a program around your child’s learning style.

To use our sailing analogy, think of your children as a flotilla of boats. Each boat has a unique design and is outfitted with different amenities and riggings. But they do have some things in common.

Elements of a Child’s Learning Style

  • Rudder/Keel – This is your children’s personality type. It is how they steer through life and what gives them balance. There are different ways to classify personality type. The most helpful to homeschoolers is pace (fast-paced or slow-paced) and orientation (task-oriented or people-oriented). It’s important to realize that personality acts as a filter for every experience. Everything you teach your children has to go through that filter. Ideally, the type of curriculum you choose and your teaching method should match the child’s pace and orientation.


  • Sea of Senses – This represents the ideal sea that we want to sail in. Every person has a preferred way of learning, a preferred sense (modality), or way we like information to be presented. The preferred methods are:
    • auditory – This is learning by hearing - the child needs to hear someone (either the teacher or himself) say the material aloud.
    • visual – This is learning by seeing - the child needs to see the material, usually in the form of posters, visuals, pictures, models, diagrams, graphs, or mental images.
    • tactile-kinesthetic – This is learning by doing - the child needs to touch the material in some way or move his/her body to interact with the information in some way (often referred to as hands-on).
  • Stages of Knowing – The word for know in the Bible has several different levels of meaning in the original language. We can think of these as stages of knowing. You can see these stages in 1 John 2:3 (Amplified Version): perception, recognition, understanding, and acquaintance. These stages point out how we use information and apply it, often referred to as a child’s thinking style. To continue with our sailing analogy, a child’s thinking style is the below deck amenities or tools that are used in navigating through the sea of life. There are three sets of tools:
    • recognition – This is what the child pays attention to. It refers to the type of information that attracts the child’s attention. It can be either concrete information (such as facts and figures or information that can be observed and measured) or abstract information (such as ideas, principles, and underlying meaning).
    • understanding or ordering – You can think of this as the child’s internal filing system. It refers to the way information is stored in long-term memory. The ordering system can be sequential (following a step-by-step system such as in an outline) or random (using what appears to be haphazard, disconnected piles of information). A sequential filing system is very efficient and quick; a random filing system is slow and inefficient, but creative.
    • acquaintance – This refers to how a child retrieves information stored in long-term memory. It has to do with how the child uses or applies what has been learned. It can be analytical (paying attention to every detail and applying it point-by-point) or global (pulling information from a variety of places – from “all over the globe” – and putting it together in different ways).

  • Expressions – This refers to the skills, interests, and “natural” talents that a child has. They’re often referred to as “intelligences.” They are the most visible characteristic of a child’s learning style. Examples are mechanical, artistic, athletic, mathematical/logical, and musical.
 As you may guess, these components of learning style greatly impact how easily a child learns. Whenever children are trying to learn something that matches their natural way of learning (learning style), the skill can be mastered quickly. Of course, the opposite is true, too. Whenever children are trying to learn something that is the opposite of their natural way of learning, it will take more modeling and practice to master it. In fact, it can seem as if a child is as much as a year or two behind. It’s not that it can’t be learned, it’s just that it takes more work and more time before it “clicks.”

It’s important that you identify all the different components of learning style in order to get the complete picture of how your child learns. Many resources, and particularly free on-line sites, only look at one aspect. Most of the assessment tools are so short that they don’t allow for enough differences. Children come in all sizes and shapes, both physically and in the way they learn!

One of the advantages of homeschooling is that you have more flexibility and time to match the teaching method and curriculum to the child’s learning style, thereby making learning more effective a nd more enjoyable.

Teaching Style
One factor that is often overlooked is the parent’s learning style. Our learning style impacts the teaching method and the type of curriculum that appeals to us. This may or may not be what is best for the child. At the same time, however, you need to be comfortable with the amount of structure (or lack of it) in the materials you choose.

Learning Styles vs. Learning Issues
More and more educators are realizing that many so-called “learning disabilities” are actually due to differences in learning style. There is no way a group classroom teacher can cater to the individual needs and learning style of every student. The teacher will often present material in several ways in recognition of these differences, but time and resources are limited. The teacher cannot teach until EVERY child has mastered the material; the class must keep moving forward and complete the prescribed material for the calendar year.

Any child who can’t keep up or who may need just a bit more help, is often overlooked. Generally, the child is passed along with the idea that he or she will get it next year. The problem is that most don’t. They keep getting further behind until they are “diagnosed” with a learning issue.

If your child is struggling, it is highly recommended that you identify his or her learning style and make adjustments accordingly. This will be the first step. If the problems persist, you will have a better idea of where breakdowns are occurring and under what circumstances. This can help you target specific areas and find a remedy.

Learning Style and Choosing Curriculum
Ideally, you choose the curriculum that matches each child’s learning style. Practically speaking, you probably will not be able to have a separate curriculum for each child. So you look for the approach or curriculum that is the “best fit” and then make adjustments for each child.

  • Learning style is most important in the elementary years when children are learning the baseline skills that will be used throughout their education. Everything they are learning is new, so the more you can cater to the child’s natural way of learning, the better.


  • Then during the intermediate or junior high years, you can begin to show the student how to learn something that is the opposite of his or her learning style. These are called “coping strategies” and these must be taught since the child doesn’t automatically think this way.


  • By the time the student finishes high school, he or she should be able to learn no matter how the material is presented.


  • If a child is struggling with a certain subject, chances are it is the opposite of his or her natural way of learning. For instance, reading and learning arithmetic fact families are sequential skills; they come easily to sequential learners and are harder for global learners to master.


  • Just about any curriculum can be used with any learning style – with a few significant exceptions. Generally, the stronger the student’s profile and the more extreme the trait, the greater the likelihood is that you will need to choose a specific type of curriculum that matches the child’s learning style.


  • No child falls within any one category completely. Children often exhibit traits across several categories, so you need to look for the traits that stand out the most and seem to be the most “natural” way or most comfortable way to work.


  • Almost all early elementary children are visual, hands-on learners. Learning styles can change as children grow and mature, and with physical and mental development (such as boys and fine-motor skills for writing). The toys a child plays with can give you a clue about the child’s preferred sense. A child’s thinking style probably won’t become obvious until around 9 or 10 years of age. A child may have a different learning style for different subjects.


  • Never let a student’s learning style or personality become an excuse. God expects us to bring both our weaknesses and strengths before Him.


  • While it seems that certain personality types lean toward certain learning styles, ministry gifts, and careers, don’t get caught up in the labeling process or limit the student because of arbitrary definitions. Use what you learned here as a guideline only.


  • We serve a very creative God who seems to delight in ignoring man’s labels and boxes. There are no concrete definitions. Traits often overlap. All sorts of combinations are possible. That’s why it is so important to get to know your children through the direction of the Holy Spirit. Evaluations, measurement tools, and checklists can be helpful for “opening your eyes,” but you as the parent can know your child more completely by developing a strong and open relationship with one another.
 Bottom line, God entrusted you with your children. The plans He has for them are good. Let Him give you His “staff aptitude evaluation” for your family!
KEY WORDS: learning, style, profile, differences, intelligences, modality, personality, hands-on, special needs, disabilities, label, diagnosed, issues .
For a more detailed discussion of the various elements of learning style and corresponding teaching tips see, How to Teach So They Can Learn and the Learning Styles Kit. Both are available from HomeschoolingBooks.com which is one of our sponsors.

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