Children
Learn Their Own Way
DIFFERENT
STYLES: Ventura educators write book on various methods
of teaching.
By
Kim Lamb Gregory
Ventura County Star writer
Sunday July 23, 2000
After reading several pages in her storybook, 8-year-old Molly Blackmon
propped her feet on top of the table in front of her -- and in front
of her tutor, Victoria Kindle Hodson.
Moments later, the girl swung her feet off the table with a mischievous
smile, then sagged into a serpentine slide out of her chair and
onto the floor, where she proceeded to giggle and scramble under
her seat.
Behavior that would invite a stern reprimand in most classroom settings
merely draws an appreciative observation from Hodson, who was tutoring
Molly in the library of Oak Grove School in Meiners Oaks, where
Molly attends elementary school.
“This is Molly's inventive use of how to be in a chair,” Hodson said.
“I love chairs,” Molly said. “I love to fool
around in them.”
And Hodson is only too happy to let her.
Letting Molly be Molly as she assimilates new information is
an example of the innovative learning-style theories that Hodson
and fellow Ventura educator Mariaemma Pelullo-Willis are promoting
with an institute and in their 1999 book, “Discover Your Child's
Learning Style” (Prima Publishing).
Through studies and experience, Hodson and Pelullo-Willis have come
to believe that certain behaviors some teachers might view as disruptive
actually can reveal clues to the methods in which each child learns
best.
Songs on an imaginary flute
During her and Hodson's recent tutorial session, Molly not only
explored her chair but also leapt up to fetch a tissue from across
the room, traced pictures from her storybook and suddenly lifted
her fingers into the air in order to play songs on an imaginary
flute.
Hodson integrated all of Molly's behavior into the hourlong session,
in which Molly read, wrote and practiced sentence structure in between
her spontaneous gambols. Each time Molly's interest wandered, Hodson
waited calmly, or blended her intermittent antics into the lesson.
"These aren't distracting things for people who need them,"Pelullo-Willis
explained. "It helps them learn."
In their book, Hodson and Pelullo-Willis teach parents how to identify
their children's individual learning styles based on talents, interests,
disposition and physical needs.
This weekend, Hodson and Pelullo-Willis added to their body of work
with the completion of the first three-day session of a learning
institute they founded based on their theories.
The maiden session of the Learning Success Institute was attended
by a dozen Southern California parents and teachers and eight Japanese
parents and teachers who had traveled from Tokyo to gather information
for home-schooling programs they are starting. The first session
took place in a hotel conference room in Ventura, but Hodson and
Pelullo-Willis hope to move as space needs increase.
Hodson and Pelullo-Willis base their teachings on their belief
that traditional classrooms are not suited to the learning
needs of all students. “Schools have traditionally provided one curriculum,
one teaching environment and one teaching methodology to fit all
learning needs,” the book states. “This structure
has favored some learners, left others out, and over the years
created a population of learning 'misfits.' ”
Union of two minds
Hodson, who holds a bachelor's degree in education and a master's
degree in psychology, met Pelullo-Willis when she attended a workshop
given by Pelullo-Willis, who holds a master's degree in special
education and has been conducting workshops for parents and teachers
for 20 years. This particular workshop focused on teaching adults
how to identify their own learning profiles.
"After the workshop, I came up to her and said, 'I would love
to develop something like that that children could answerthemselves,'
" Hodson said.
Hodson and Pelullo-Willis became friends who discovered they shared
the same philosophy on education. Throughout their years of experience
teaching students of all ages in a variety of educational settings,
both shared the same frustration with traditional teaching methods.
A 30-year veteran educator, Hodson believed there must be a
way to rechannel traits that might cause a student to be labeled "learning
disabled" into a program that would use these same traits
to the child's advantage.
Similarly, Pelullo-Willis spent 11 years testing and diagnosing
children identified as having learning problems and developing
ways to "fix" kids she didn't believe needed fixing.
"I was working with kids who were labeled as disabled and they
were really artistic and inventive or whatever," Pelullo-Willis
said.
Both wanted to develop methods designed to recognize and use
each child's unique characteristics rather than to categorize
them. "A
person who is labeled 'dyslexic' may just be a visual picture learner,"Pelullo-Willis
said.
The educators believe some kids may be misdiagnosed with learning
problems when those problems might be solved simply by working with
the child's learning style.
"We can actually create learning disabilities by making children
learn in ways that are not natural to them," Hodson theorized.
With their combined experience, Pelullo-Willis and Hodson compiled
their principles into the book, which is a guide for parents wishing
to coach their children through school by profiling their learning
styles.
"We are not including children who are developmentally delayed
or brain injured,"the book states. "We realize that
these children have special needs that cannot be addressed
simply by looking at their learning styles."
But for a majority of kids, the authors believe the learning style
model can help.
How it works
Besides the classes they are holding at their new institute, Hodson
and Pelullo-Willis do private consultations with local parents who
hire them to work with students like Molly.
Hodson and Molly met in the library regularly for private sessions
through the school year.
During one session, Hodson invited Molly to practice her writing
with colored magic markers. After some concentrated effort, Molly
announced:
"Smelly time!"
With that, she pulled the scented markers out of the box, and sniffed
them, one at a time.
"It smells like grapes," Molly said, inhaling the scent
of a purple marker.
Molly has what the authors have identified as a "performing" disposition,
one of five dispositions Hodson and Pelullo-Willis mapped out
in their book.
Kids with performing dispositions like to keep moving.
"A child with a performing disposition really enjoys being
the center of attention,"explained Hodson. "They
like the spotlight to be on them. They're often very spontaneous
people. They like to jump from one thing to another."
Rather than having Molly sit for long periods of time and read or
write, Hodson works movement and variety into each lesson, allowing
Molly to provide her own spontaneous breaks.
Instead of constructing sentences with pencil and paper, Hodson
has Molly manipulate cards printed with words into complete
sentences. "She's very hands-on," Hodson said.
This method would not work as well with a child who had one of the
other four dispositions in the book: the producing; inventing; relating/inspiring;
and thinking/creating dispositions.
Kids with producing dispositions do well with organized reading
and writing exercises popular in public schools.
Those with inventing dispositions love to discover things on their
own, whereas kids with relating/inspiring dispositions learn well
when they interact with others. They may enjoy doing things in groups
or reading aloud. And kids with thinking/creating dispositions learn
by contemplating abstract ideas and then expressing them through
mathematical formulas, philosophical solutions, poetry, artwork
or dance.
Each person usually has a dominant and a secondary disposition,
Hodson said, which figures into each learning profile along with
four other factors: talent, interests, ideal learning environment
and modality (which of the senses dominates when the child is assimilating
information).
To create an ideal learning situation for the child, all five
categories are blended to create what the authors call the "learning
personality."
"We say that is the way the child meets the learning world,"
Hodson said. "It's kind of a synthesis of all the other
things."
Talent, interests, environment and learning modalities were areas
that had been explored by other educators, but the theory of individual
dispositions was a new concept introduced by Pelullo-Willis and
Hodson.
Easing into reading
For Sharon and Paul Tubbs of Santa Paula, the "Learning Styles" concept
was a godsend.
"I have three children who learn things in three different
ways,"said Sharon, whose fourth child, Patrick, is still
an infant.
Sharon now schools her children at home, but when the Tubbs
family first contacted Pelullo-Willis, the oldest of their
school-age children, James Burgett, 15, was in the fourth grade
in public school, could barely read, and was constantly restless
in class. "His teachers
described him as a 'spring ready to be sprung,' " Sharon
said.
"They said, 'Sit still and pay attention,' " James remembered,
as he swayed his knees back and forth and fiddled with a hinge
on a nearby cabinet.
Pelullo-Willis channeled James' energy into his learning process.
After testing James, Pelullo-Willis identified him as having
primarily a performing disposition, with the inventing disposition
pulling a close second. "This combination is deadly in a regular classroom," Pelullo-Willis
said.
James' learning modality was kinesthetic, which means he likes to
learn through touch.
"I like to take stuff apart,"he said, "washing machines,
motors, all kinds of mechanical stuff."
Pelullo-Willis began her program with James by de-emphasizing his
poor reading skills, instead asking him about his interests.
"When she told my son he didn't have to read or write, I thought
I would die," Sharon said.
"We back off and say, 'You don't have to read and write.' "
Pelullo-Willis explained. "We do that and we wait."
The reading will come, she said, but the time must be right.
"Safety is the No. 1 underlying requirement for learning to
take place," Hodson explained.
As they talked, Pelullo-Willis discovered a pathway to James' learning
psyche.
"He started opening up with airplanes,"Pelullo-Willis
said. "He just blossomed."
Through his love for model airplanes, James learned to read.
"I went through every airplane book in the Santa Paula library," James
said.
"He wasn't reading in the fourth grade," Sharon said.
"Now he can read anything."
The trouble-free student
In contrast, James' brother, Calvin Burgett, 13, has a producing
disposition, which is rewarded in a traditional school environment
but is not without its pitfalls.
Kids with producing dispositions like organization. They don't mind
sitting for long periods and often turn in their lessons on time,
neatly and within the margins. They thrive on order.
"He likes quiet," Pelullo-Willis said of Calvin. "He
likes schedules and workbooks."
Here's the problem: Because schools tend to favor the producing
disposition, other aspects of the child often are not encouraged.
"They miss out," Hodson said. "They get so locked
into being the good student. They have a lot of fear -- fear
that they're not going to get an A on the next test, fear that they will
fall off this pedestal.
"They often don't get to pursue their own interests because
they get so involved in pleasing -- meeting the expectations of
others," Hodson said.
Relating and creating
Calvin and James' sister, Nianna Morris, 10, has a relating/inspiring
disposition, which means she learns best when she interacts
with others. "These are the people who are sensitive to others'
feelings," Hodson explained. "They like to involve
other people in what they are doing."
Nianna's secondary disposition is thinking/creating. "These
people are creative and imaginative," Hodson said.
She added, "Thinking/creating minds are not just the arts;
they are also the very pure mathematicians."
Pelullo-Willis suggested a good way for Nianna to learn was
to express herself with her natural art talent and then to
share her creations with others. "Instead of saying, 'Stop drawing, stop doodling!'
we use that," Pelullo-Willis explained.
Nianna explored the classic book "Little Women" by
Louisa May Alcott by listening to the book on tape and watching
a movie version of the book with her mother. Then she created
paper dolls out of all the characters, and fashions for the
scenes out of the book.
"This is the guy, Laurie, when he was sick,"said Nianna,
holding up a paper doll she cut out and colored.
"The typical thing you do is read, synthesize and do a report,"Pelullo-Willis
said. "Here she's learned about the period of time and
she's read a classic."
Talents and interests
Other elements in the learning-style mix are the student's talents
and interests.
Hodson and Pelullo-Willis have identified 12 talents for their profile.
Talents are described as traits that come naturally to the student,
like humor, music, math, even animal husbandry.
Nianna possesses what Hodson calls the "Dr. Doolittle"
talent; she loves caring for two dogs and four puppies, and when
she reads a story, "I mostly pick out things about animals," Nianna
said.
Talents figure into a student's ideal learning profile along
with interests, which are the hobbies and activities that make
the child light up. "When kids are pursuing interests, they are focused,
energetic and enthusiastic," the book reads.
A child may have an interest in everything from frogs to skateboarding.
The trick is to watch which interests stick.
"Kids will try on interests the way we try on shoes,"Hodson
said. "Really talk to the kids about it, even if it's
not your interest."
Sometimes a parent's expectations can eclipse what interests
a child, the authors say. Listen to the child, they stress,
and do not assume you know where his or her interests lie. "Making assumptions
about what your child should be interested in will plant seeds for
resistance and maybe even a full-blown power struggle," the
book states.
Modality and environment
Nianna learned "Little Women" by listening to a tape.
Calvin prefers to see words on a page. Molly likes to slide
cards around on a tabletop to create sentences.
Most educators know children have a primary learning modality that
is either visual, auditory or kinesthetic, but Hodson and Pelullo-Willis
expand those modalities by suggesting there are different categories
of visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning.
For example, one type of kinesthetic learner may like to draw, while
another enjoys dismantling things. A third child may enjoy a combination
of both.
The modality bias of most schools is visual and auditory, Hodson
said, since most learning is done through print and listening to
lectures.
"Only 30 percent of the entire population of the U.S. is auditory,"
Hodson said. "More than 60 percent is tactile-kinesthetic."
Another important vehicle for learning is environment, according
to the book. Some children must have quiet to learn, whereas others
thrive on background noise.
Kids have different temperature needs, too. Some like it hot. Some
like it cold.
Other kids will thrive with certain light levels in a classroom,
or around certain colors. "Children have colors they are responsive
to, that just brighten their day," Hodson said. "They
may need to have a yellow notebook."
"These are all those subtleties that make the learning situation
comfortable for you," she said.
What to do with all this
Schools are making more of an effort to consider each child's
individuality, Hodson believes, but public school remains more
of a socializing than an academic environment. "Its mandate from the very beginning
has not been reassessed," she said. "Its mandate
was to develop an assembly line working class to do what they're
told and when they are told."
"The school is defining them too narrowly," Hodson said.
"Only a certain number (of students) can succeed with their
definition."
Obviously, the sheer numbers of students and other limitations make
it unrealistic for public schools to cater to each child's individual
learning style, but Pelullo-Willis and Hodson believe parents can
help their children learn by identifying their individual learning
profiles and working with them at home.
"They can understand the situation their child is in,"
Hodson said. "It may not be possible (for the child) to
get A's in this situation. Ask, 'Can we accept this as parents?
Can we have children who may not make A's, but come home and
are energetically writing letters to save the whales?'
"Our challenge to parents is: 'Would you be willing to help
bring the star in your child out?' "
-- Kim Lamb Gregory's e-mail address is kgregory@insidevc.com.
2000 © The E.W. Scripps Co.
Ventura County Star subscription services
Users of this site are subject to our Privacy Policy and User Agreement
Contact InsideVC.com at Feedback@InsideVC.com
