| Learning
Styles: Part 3 - The Focused Learner
This week we look at our third common type
of learner. We’ve considered the Active Learner and the Routine Learner
(see the archives). Now we turn to the Focused Learner.
Good news. The focused learner will learn despite you! Bad news. He’s
going to exhaust you with his intensity and questions. This learner has an
insatiable appetite for knowledge. He wants to be able to understand,
explain, predict and control realities. He seeks to uncover principles and
to use them in structuring his cognitive and intellectual world. The
absent-minded professor, Mr. Spock and the mad scientist are all
caricatures of this personality.
Here are the indicators that you have one growing in your home: The
focused learner loves problem solving, research, experimentation and
intellectual inquiry. He is a creative thinker and chooses research and
investigation as a leisure activity. He will focus on one task for long
periods of time and can tune out all other distractions (or even all other
responsibilities.)
One mom of a focused learner was perplexed by her son’s habit of curling
up for the evening with a volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Another
focused learner I know had an extensive rock and fossil collection
categorized and labeled in a large area of his basement by the time he was
eight.
This learner has a serious nature and is happy that way. He finds great
self-satisfaction in his own achievements and doesn’t need the approval
from others as the Routine Learner does. His greatest difficulties lie in
accepting his own limitations. He will often become frustrated if he
cannot succeed in solving a problem or attaining his goals. He also
neglects subjects and responsibilities outside his narrow frame of
interest (i.e. cleaning his bedroom). He will need help and encouragement
from you in keeping his shortcomings in perspective. And he will need
outside accountability to insure all responsibilities eventually are
completed with an acceptable level of competency.
This learner is very objective and analytical in his decision-making and
has a difficult time expressing emotions or understanding others’
emotional responses to situations. He typically relates to his peers in an
instructional, not personal, manner. For this reason, he is often the odd
man out socially.
At one point in my teaching career, I developed and taught an honors
English program for gifted and highly motivated students. I am reminded
here of George, a remarkably intelligent student but one with little
interest in my classes, which predominantly involved discussing in a
subjective way the literature we were studying. What were the ideas and
opinions the kids had formulated while reading the work? How did they see
these ideas influencing their lives? Every day we would discuss such
things, just for the sake of sharing our reactions. Well, this just wasn't
for George and others like him. The focused learner values facts and
empirical knowledge, not knowledge that is personal in nature.
Probably the most rapport I ever had with George came when I asked him to
teach me to play chess. (I asked because I was about to marry Kermit, who
loves chess. This should have been a big clue... guess what kind of
learner I married!)
Program Suggestions
This student can be satisfied with materials created for classroom use, if
you must go that route, but don’t hand him inferior stuff. He doesn’t
need to be entertained, but he needs to be challenged. And he doesn’t
want to be talked down to. Make sure the activities and assignments do
more than just measure memorization of material.
You will often find the focused learned does not want to write responses
out or record all the steps used to solve a math or science problem.
Unless you can show him why these requirements are a valuable use of his
time, especially when the answers are immediately obvious to him, don’t
expect him to ever see this as more than busy work. (If you come up with a
good reason, let me know as I would agree with the Focused Learner.)
Don’t hesitate to let him jump several levels ahead in a subject area of
great interest and strength. My friend Susan’s son, Jacob, was intensely
focused in math and computer science while home schooling. He scored a
perfect 5 on the Advanced Placement Calculus Exam in 9th grade and an 800
on the math section of his college boards in 10th. He placed in national
and international programming and mathematics competitions in high school.
(He’s now in a computer science program at an elite college.) This was
only possible because his parents let him work with advanced math years
earlier than traditionally accepted. He was free to whiz through lessons
or skip entire sections until he hit his level of competency. And they
allowed him to devote hours to programming, web design, and software
development; and give short shift to areas (i.e. the humanities) that were
of less importance to him.
Think mentors. This type of learner often doesn’t enjoy working in
groups or on teams unless others are as focused as he is. But he does
respect and enjoy adult mentors with expertise in his areas of interest.
And often the adult finds it quite rewarding to work with a young person
who is motivated and enthusiastic. My good friend Cindy had a son
intensely interested in video and film beginning in 6th grade. When Daniel
reached high school, Cindy arranged (through countless hours and phone
calls.) two apprenticing experiences for him. These proved critical in
developing his skills and confirming his desire to pursue a career in this
field. He’s now studying cinematography at one of the top schools in the
country.
While a tutor may seem a big step for an elementary student, participation
in an organization or club for his interest is another way to cultivate
informal mentoring. I know of several home school students who joined
hobbyist clubs before their teens. Even though it was unusual, the adults
readily accepted them once they saw their seriousness and focused
interest. My daughter Kayte has been the junior member of a quilt guild
for several years now and a number of women are mentoring her. They find
her enthusiasm and appreciation very rewarding (and as this intense
interest is quite outside her mother’s talents it got me off the hook in
terms of teaching her.)
Finally, help this learner develop his interpersonal skills if they are
weak. Serving in children’s ministry at church or volunteering at a
local service organization might work well. As with each learner, it is
important that we as parents design a program that allows each child to
cultivate his gifts and talents, while at the same time addressing
strategically the areas of weakness in character and skill -- all for the
ultimate purpose of laying a sure foundation for fulfilling each ones
unique calling in the Lord.
In His Sovereign Grace,
Debra
Recommended Resources:
The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling,
Debra Bell. An entire section on learning styles is included in my book.
The Christian
Home Educators’ Curriculum Manual, Elementary, Cathy Duffy.
The Christian
Home Educators’ Curriculum Manual, Junior/Senior High, Cathy Duffy
Shepherding a
Child’s Heart, by Tedd Tripp
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