Are Learning Accommodations for Right Brained Learners Actually Crutches in Disguise?

Over the years I’ve heard a variety of opinions about whether or not we should adhere to a strictly traditional approach when teaching reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic to children who are struggling to learn basic skills. In past years, what I saw in special education classrooms was that the same approach was used to teach strugglers, but the number of math problems or spelling words were reduced. Today it seems like more and more educators and parents are embracing non-traditional helps to ensure the success of those children who are not successful with traditional lessons.

Because I also am a non-traditional learner, I was particularly sensitive to reactions that ran contrary to my own belief about using alternative methods in teaching. Some of the comments I have heard include the following:

• I learned it this way. He should be able to also.
• I’ve taught this way for 40 years. He should be able to learn it like everyone else.
• Using visuals is a crutch. She should be able to learn without pictures.
• If you teach with [pictures, stories, or metaphors] it will just confuse my child.
• He won’t be able to read plain text if he learns his sight words using stylized words.

While reading A Mind at a Time by Dr. Mel Levine, I came across a comment he makes about how specialized we allow ourselves to be as adults, but how rigidly we teach our children, expecting them all to learn the same way and be a master of every subject. I don’t advocate pushing children to master every subject equally – nor do I support the notion of turning a blind eye to a child’s failure in a particular subject. What I do believe is that we should take the time to find out in which areas the student excels and use that talent to help him learn other subjects. For instance, a child who loves to draw can be encouraged to draw to help himself remember concepts in a subject he finds difficult.

In her book The Way They Learn, Cynthia Tobias encourages parents with struggling children to focus completely on what their REAL desire for their children is. Is it that a child do her homework, or is it that she learns the subject matter? Along those same lines, is it really important HOW a child learns and by what means, as long as he is happily successful in learning the material?

I have seen many children who had shut down in the process of learning to read that suddenly came to life when we included some right brained elements in their learning. Far from being a crutch to them, the visuals, stories, motions and activities greased the wheels and allowed these children to learn quickly and deeply. This makes all the difference between failing and succeeding; between dreading school and enjoying the process of learning.

So to answer my question, this is what we at Child1st believe: that it only makes sense to make learning those basic concepts as attractive and easy to assimilate as possible so that no child will shut down or come to hate reading or learning. With that goal in mind, we design learning tools that deliver concepts quickly and naturally to the child by means of images, stories, humor, body movement, patterns and much more. Let’s help our children love learning!

Comments

[Joanne]

I think that a non-traditional way of learning is sometimes better, particularly when it comes to learning languages, this is one of the reasons why many travel agents are now offering language holidays, so people can learn in a non-traditional classroom setting.